US housing starts jump back sharply in November

Residential building activity Stateside had a strong month in November.

US housing starts jumped back by a stronger-than-expected 10.5% month-on-month to reach an annualised pace of 1.173m, the latest figures from the Department of Commerce showed.

Economists had penciled in a rise of 6.6%.

Permits for builders to begin work on homes gained 11% month-on-month to 1.289m (consensus: 1.15m) from October´s upwardly revised print 1.161m.

Government statisticians had initially pegged last month´s level of building permits at 1.15m.

"Better-than-expected starts in November, particularly for the single family sector, suggest a bit more construction spending over the next several months. This boosted our tracking estimate of residential investment; however, our Q4 GDP tracking estimate remains unchanged at 1.9% after rounding," Barclays´s Rob Martin and Jesse Hurwitz said in a research note sent to clients.