Housing Starts Plunge to New Low

New housing starts fell to a record low in January, the Commerce Department said Wednesday.

The 17% plunge to an annual rate of 466,000 was the lowest since records began being kept in 1959, Commerce said.

Total starts were projected to fall to an annual rate of 529,000 units, from December’s revised 560,000 level, Bloomberg reported.

Building permits, an indicator of new construction, fell 4.8% to an annual pace of 521,000 units.