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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 March 17, 2022
• Severe winter weather depressed January building activity.
• Regional changes remain mixed.
• Building permits decline.
Housing starts increased 6.8% (22.3% y/y) during February to 1.769 million (SAAR) and more than recovered the January decline to 1.657 million, revised from 1.638 million. It was the highest level of starts since June 2006. December starts also were revised up to 1.754 million from 1.708 million. The Action Economics Forecast Survey expected 1.700 million starts during February.
Starts of single-family units rose 5.7% (13.7% y/y) in February to 1.215 million after declining to 1.150 million in January. Multi-family housing starts improved 9.3% (46.6% y/y) to 554,000 from 507,000.
By region, housing starts in the Northeast rose 28.7% (19.3% y/y) in February to 130,000. Starts in the Midwest improved 15.3% (66.2% y/y) to 226,000. In the South, housing starts rose 11.4% (31.9% y/y) to 1.017 million units. To the downside, starts in the West fell 11.4% (-8.1% y/y) to 396,000.
Building permits fell 1.9% (+7.7% y/y) to 1.859 million from 1.895 million in January. Permits to build single-family homes eased 0.5% (+5.4% y/y) in February to 1.207 million units. Permits to build multi-family homes fell 4.4% (+12.2% y/y) to 652,000.
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) | Feb | Jan | Dec | Feb Y/Y % | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total | 1,769 | 1,657 | 1,754 | 22.3 | 1,605 | 1,397 | 1,292 |
Single-Family | 1,215 | 1,150 | 1,203 | 13.7 | 1,131 | 1,004 | 889 |
Multi-Family | 554 | 507 | 551 | 46.6 | 473 | 393 | 403 |
Starts By Region | |||||||
Northeast | 130 | 101 | 140 | 19.3 | 138 | 113 | 115 |
Midwest | 226 | 196 | 324 | 66.2 | 217 | 193 | 169 |
South | 1,017 | 913 | 900 | 31.9 | 849 | 743 | 687 |
West | 396 | 447 | 390 | -8.1 | 401 | 347 | 321 |
Building Permits | 1,859 | 1,895 | 1,885 | 7.7 | 1,714 | 1,479 | 1,385 |