. .

January Construction Permits Lowest in 50 years

Construction Permits Release

Start and finish housing numbers were the lowest in 50 years. The Commerce Department new release for construction start and permits number for January is the lowest since 1959. The department reports that the number of housing starts in January plunged 16.8 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 466,000 units.

Permits to build new homes dropped 4.8 percent from the prior month 521,000. Single-family authorizations in January dived by 8 percent to 335,000 compared to 364,000 in December.

U.S. Census-02/18/2009