November Housing Starts Jump 6.7%; Building Permits Fall

.S. new housing starts rebounded in November from the lowest level in six years, but building permits fell to a nine-year low, the Commerce Department said Tuesday.

Housing starts rose to a 1.588 million-unit annual rate, up 6.7% from October’s 1.996 million, which had been a six-year low.

That level was higher than economists’ forecasts of a 1.54 million pace, Bloomberg reported.

Housing starts jumped 19% in the South and 8.5% in the Northeast, and fell 8.1% in the West and 6.3% in the Midwest.

Increased construction can mean more business for flatbed trucking companies that haul building materials. In home construction, dry van freight can see demand increases in for delivery of household appliances and furniture.