US housing starts slump in January, miss forecasts

Homebuilders in the US broke ground on fewer homes than expected in January.

According to the Department of Commerce, in seasonally adjusted terms, the annualised rate of housing starts fell at a month -on-month pace of 6.0% to reach 1.58m (consensus: 1.65m).

Last month's drop also drove starts 2.3% below their year earlier level.

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