By Joshua Kirby


U.S. housing starts slipped backward in January and by much more than expected, despite a sunnier mood among home builders. Here are the main takeaways from the Commerce Department's report released Friday.

--Housing starts, a measure of U.S. home building, fell 14.8% to a seasonally adjusted rate of 1.33 million.

--Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal had expected starts to fall less sharply to 1.45 million.

--Starts were 0.7% lower than the same month last year.

--December's housing starts were revised upward to 1.56 million.

--Monthly housing starts data are volatile. January data came with a margin of error of around 10 percentage points.

--Residential permits, which can hint at future home construction, also declined on month. Economists had expected permits to inch up to 1.5 million.

--Weaker building data come despite cheerier sentiment among constructors at the start of the year, buoyed by expectations for sustained cuts in interest rates and resultant lower mortgage rates, according to data from the National Association of Home Builders set out earlier this week. NAHB's report nevertheless warned that supply constraints could hamper building as demand rises.


Write to Joshua Kirby at joshua.kirby@wsj.com; @joshualeokirby


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

02-16-24 0901ET