Housing Starts Rise 3.4% in September

Housing starts rose 3.4% in September to the second-highest level in 17 years, the Commerce Department reported Friday.

Builders started work on 1.888 million homes at an annual rate in September as construction companies filled orders placed earlier, Bloomberg said.

Building permits, an indicator of future production, slipped 2.2% to 1.86 million.

Increased construction likely means more business for flatbed trucking companies that haul building materials. Also, in the case of home construction, dry van freight can see an increase in demand for the delivery of household appliances and furniture.

Economists estimated starts would rise to a 1.83 million annual rate, Reuters reported. Faster economic growth and a rebound in the job market could help keep housings starts close to record rates even as mortgage costs rise, economists told Bloomberg.

By region, starts increased 15% in the Northeast to a 175,000 rate, 8.1% in the Midwest to 429,000 and 4.2% in the West to 442,000. They decreased 1.3% in the South to an 842,000 rate.