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Economy in Brief
UK Consumer Sentiment Hits Lowest Reading since 1996
(when the GFK survey began; also lowest reading 'ever')
Of these 13 readings eight of them declined on the month in May three of them improved and two of them were unchanged...
U.S. Existing Home Sales Continue to Fall in April as Houses Become Less Affordable
The combination of soaring home prices across the nation and rising interest rates is making homes less affordable...
U.S. Index of Leading Indicators Fell in April
Five of the index's components fell in April, one was unchanged and four increased...
U.S. Unemployment Claims Rose in the Latest Week
The state insured rates of unemployment in regular programs vary widely...
CBI Gauge in the UK Continues to Be Upbeat
The global economy has a lot of challenges...
Viewpoints
Commentaries are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the views of Haver Analytics.
Profits and Margins Plunge In Q1: Expect More Margin Contraction As Fed Squeezes Inflation
The Many Links of Inflation Cycle: Hard Landing Is Needed to Crack Them
Peak Inflation and Fed Policy: A Relationship which Should Worry the Fed and Scare Investors
Why Have the Yields on TIPS Been Negative in the Past Two Years?
by Tom Moeller February 17, 2022
• Severe winter weather limited building activity.
• Regional changes remain mixed.
• Building permits are little changed.
Housing starts declined 4.1% (+0.8% y/y) during January to 1.638 million (SAAR) from 1.708 million in December, revised from 1.702 million. It was the lowest level of starts in three months. The Action Economics Forecast Survey expected 1.700 million starts during January. Data for 2021 were revised.
Starts of single-family units declined 5.6% (-2.4% y/y) in January to 1.116 million from 1.182 million in December. It also was the lowest level since October. Multi-family housing starts eased 0.8% (+8.3% y/y) to 522,000 from 526,000. The latest level remained near the highest since February 2020.
By region, housing starts in the Northeast rose 2.6% (-41.2% y/y) in January to 120,000. Starts in the Midwest fell 37.7% (-4.3% y/y) to 200,000. In the South, housing starts eased 2.0% (+8.5% y/y) to 880,000. Starts in the West increased 17.7% (9.2% y/y) to a near record 438,000.
Building permits edged 0.7% higher (0.8% y/y) to 1.899 million from 1.885 million in December. It was the highest level of permits since May 2006. Permits to build single-family homes gained 6.8% (-5.0% y/y) in January to 1.205 million units. Permits to build multi-family homes fell 8.3% (+12.8% y/y) to 694,000.
The housing starts and permits figures can be found in Haver's USECON database. The expectations figure is contained in the AS1REPNA database.
Housing Starts (000s, SAAR) | Jan | Dec | Nov | Jan Y/Y % | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total | 1,638 | 1,708 | 1,703 | 0.8 | 1,601 | 1,397 | 1,292 |
Single-Family | 1,116 | 1,182 | 1,222 | -2.4 | 1,130 | 1,004 | 889 |
Multi-Family | 522 | 526 | 481 | 8.3 | 471 | 393 | 403 |
Starts By Region | |||||||
Northeast | 120 | 117 | 113 | -41.2 | 136 | 113 | 115 |
Midwest | 200 | 321 | 216 | -4.3 | 217 | 193 | 169 |
South | 880 | 898 | 945 | 8.5 | 848 | 743 | 687 |
West | 438 | 372 | 429 | 9.2 | 400 | 347 | 321 |
Building Permits | 1,899 | 1,885 | 1,717 | 0.8 | 1,714 | 1,479 | 1,385 |