Housing Starts Reach Record Low

New housing starts fell to a record low last month, the Commerce Department said Thursday.

The 16% decline to an annual rate of 550,000 was the lowest since records began being kept in 1959, Commerce said.

Total starts were projected to fall to an annual rate of 605,000 units from November’s 625,000, Bloomberg reported.

Building permits, an indicator of new construction, fell 11% to an annual pace of 549,000 units.