Housing starts in the United States rose slightly more than expected in November, but permits for future home construction fell to an 18-month low.
Also on Thursday, the labor department reported that first-time claims for jobless benefits were essentially unchanged in the latest week, continuing a recent downward trend, but remaining too modest to bring down unemployment.
In the housing report, the commerce department said that housing starts rose 3.9%, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5,55,000 units. October?s starts were revised up to a 5,34,000-unit pace from the previously reported 5,19,000 units, which was an 18-month low.
Analysts polled by Reuters had expected housing starts to rise to a 5,50,000-unit rate.
Despite last month?s pickup in residential construction, housing remains weak as a 9.8% unemployment rate weighs on demand and homeowners? ability to hang on to their properties.
New building permits fell 4%, to a 5,30,000-unit rate last month, the lowest since April 2009, after a 0.9% increase in October. Permits were dragged down by a 23% decline in the volatile multifamily segment. Permits for single-family homes rose 3% last month.
Analysts had expected building permits to rise to a 5,60,000-unit rate in November. Groundbreaking last month was lifted by a 6.9% increase in single-family home construction. Starts for the multifamily segment, however, fell 9.1%. New home completions fell 14.1% to a record low 5,13,000 units in November.
In the jobs report, the labor department said that initial claims dipped slightly to 4,20,000 last week, matching the median forecast in a Reuters poll of economists, from a revised 4,23,000 in the previous week.
However, continuing claims, which exclude the millions of Americans relying on extended benefits, rose to 4.14 million in the week ended December 4.
That was far higher than the reading of 4.07 million analysts had expected, and the previous week?s figure was also revised up considerably.
The total number of Americans claiming benefits, including those relying on a federal emergency program of extended benefits that has been the subject of heated political debate in Washington, rose by nearly 9,00,000, to 9.2 million on a nonseasonally adjusted basis in the week to November 27.
In another report, the Philadelphia Federal Reserve?s Business Outlook Survey showed that manufacturing activity in the mid-Atlantic region continued to improve in December. All of the broad indicators remained positive and suggest an expansion of activity. The index increased to 24.3 in December from 22.5 in November.
Increases in input prices were more widespread this month, and more firms reported increases in prices for their manufactured goods.
The survey?s broad indicators of future activity suggest that optimism among the region?s manufacturing executives also continues to improve.