US housing starts decline sharply in October

Construction on new US homes suffered a sharp slowdown in October, figures released on Wednesday showed.

According to the Commerce Department, housing starts fell 11% last month to 1.06m, against expectations for a reading of 1.16m.

Meanwhile, housing starts in September were revised down from an annual rate of 1.21m to 1.19m, the report added.

However, permits for new construction, which are a closely-followed gauge of future demand, rebounded 4.1% to an annual rate of 1.15m, while permits for single-family homes rose 2.4% to 711,000, the highest level since the end of 2007.