Housing Starts Dip in October

Housing starts slipped 0.3% in October but building permits jumped to their highest level in almost a year and a half, the Commerce Department said Thursday.

Starts declined to a rate of 628,000 units, from a revised rate of 630,000 in September that was lower than originally estimated.

The rate surpassed economists’ forecasts of a 610,000 rate, Bloomberg reported.

Building permits, an indicator of future construction, jumped 10.9% to 653,000, the highest since March 2010.

Single-family home starts, which account for about 85% of the total, rose 3.9% to a 430,000 rate.

Work on multifamily units, which is often more volatile, dropped 8.3% to a 198,000 annual rate.

Starts rose in three of four national regions, led by a 17.2% jump in the Northeast. Starts dropped 16.5% in the West.