US housing starts move higher in March 2021

A report released by the Commerce Department on Friday showed a substantial rebound in new residential construction in the U.S. in the month of March 2021.

The Commerce Department said housing starts skyrocketed by 19.4% to an annual rate of 1.739 million in March 2021 after plunging by 11.3% to a revised rate of 1.457 million in February 2021.

Economists had expected housing starts to spike by 13.5% to a rate of 1.613 million from the 1.421 million originally reported for the previous month.

With the bigger than expected increase, housing starts reached their highest level since hitting an annual rate of 1.802 million in June of 2006.

Meanwhile, the report showed building permits jumped by 2.7% to an annual rate of 1.766 million in March after tumbling by 8.8% to a revised rate of 1.720 million in February.