Two good economic events broke into the news yesterday, one concerning the housing sector, and the other, the financial sector. The Commerce Department reported yesterday that building permits and housing starts in the U.S. increased in February (New Residential Construction in February 2009).
Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in February were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 547,000. This is 3.0 percent (±3.5%)* above the revised January rate of 531,000, but is 44.2 percent (±1.2%) below the revised February 2008 estimate of 981,000.
Single-family authorizations in February were at a rate of 373,000; this is 11.0 percent (±2.1%) above the January figure of 336,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 156,000 in February.
Privately-owned housing starts in February were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 583,000. This is 22.2 percent (±13.8%) above the revised January estimate of 477,000, but is 47.3 percent (±5.3%) below the revised February 2008 rate of 1,107,000.
Single-family housing starts in February were at a rate of 357,000; this is 1.1 percent (±11.0%)* above the January figure of 353,000. The February rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 212,000.
The notes of the Commerce Department news release cautions readers to take care in interpreting changes in seasonally adjusted monthly data. It is subject to wide swings and several months on data is needed to establish a trend.
Cristina Alesci and Mark Shenk report for Bloomberg in "U.S. Markets Wrap: Stocks Rise on Homebuilding Data, Oil Climbs," that U.S. stocks advanced Tuesday based on February's increase in building permits and housing starts and expectations that the Federal Reserve will explain plans to support the economy. The gains were concentrated in the financial and building supply sectors.
Citigroup Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. rose at least 7.7 percent as the KBW Bank Index extended its gain since March 6 to 46 percent. KB Home, the fourth-largest U.S. homebuilder, rallied 9.3 percent and Home Depot Inc. rose 6.7 percent as housing starts unexpectedly increased 22 percent in February, the most since 1990. Apple Inc. added 4.4 percent to help lead technology shares higher after updating its iPhone software.
The S&P 500 added 3.2 percent to 778.12, led by a 6.6 percent gain in financial companies. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 178.73 points, or 2.5 percent, to 7,395.7. The Nasdaq Composite Index surged 4.1 percent. About eight stocks rose for each that fell on the New York Stock Exchange.
Posts
Since construction and the financial sector are inter-twined, this means more jobs, which means more money is rolled into the economy to be spent and invested. This is the type of growth that is needed to get our economy jump-started.
ReplyDeleteLisa Huffhines