U.S. home construction hits 12-year high

The pace of U.S. home construction jumped 12.3% last month to a 12-year high on a surge in apartment building. The Commerce Department said Wednesday that housing starts came in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.36 million, the most since June 2007 and up from a revised 1.22 million, as builders overcame a shortage of skilled workers and available land. Economists had expected a more modest gain and in another promising sign, permits, a signal of future building, rose 7.7% to 1.42 million, highest since May 2007. Construction of single-family homes rose 4.4% to 919,000. Building of apartments and condominiums surged 30.9% - biggest monthly gain since December 2016 - to 424,000. Residential construction rose 30.5% in the Northeast, 15.4% in the Midwest and 14.9% in the South but was unchanged in the West.