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Strategies & Market Trends : Booms, Busts, and Recoveries

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To: Ilaine who wrote (17060)	3/20/2002 9:20:22 AM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (1) of 74559

Housing Starts Zoom Ahead in February Wednesday March 20, 8:38 am Eastern Time WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Boosted by a sharp gain in single-family homes, U.S. housing starts in February zoomed to their fastest pace in more than three years, the government said on Wednesday, in an encouraging sign for the strength of the emerging U.S. economic recovery. The Commerce Department said starts rose 2.8 percent to a seasonally adjusted 1.769 million annual rate, the strongest clip since December 1998. January starts were revised upward, to a 1.721 million annual rate from the previously reported 1.678 million pace. The unexpectedly strong gain was led by a 7.4 percent increase in single-family home starts, which saw ground broken at 1.457 million unit rate, the quickest pace since December 1978, according to Commerce. The report may ease worries about how strong the economy's recovery will be in coming months. Retail sales gains often follow home sales as newly minted homebuyers move to furnish their houses, boosting the overall economy. Permits for home construction -- an indicator of future activity -- were also up in February, rising 1.8 percent to a 1.752 million annual rate. Wall Street analysts had been expecting sales to fall back in February after being boosted by January's unusually warm weather. The average forecast in a poll of economists by Reuters had called for both starts and permits to post a 1.642 million annual rate.

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