Housing Starts Plunge to Lowest Level Since 1997

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New housing starts plunged 14.3% in January to their lowest level in 10 years, the Commerce Department said Friday.Housing starts fell to a 1.408 million-unit annual rate, from December’s 1.643 million, Commerce said.That level was well below economists’ forecasts of a decline to a 1.6 million pace, Bloomberg reported.Building permits, an indicator of future construction, fell 2.8%, to a 1.568 million-unit pace. They were expected to drop to 1.59 million, Bloomberg said.Starts slumped 28.5% in the West, the biggest one month decline in that region since 1979.They fell 15.2% in the Midwest and 11.8% in the South, while rising 8.9% in the Northeast.