The number of new houses being built in the US edged up in September, but by less than expected, raising concerns about the strength of the US recovery.
Housing starts rose by 0.5% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 590,000 homes, compared with a revised figure of 587,000 in August.
But the rate was still down by 28.2% on the 822,000 homes started in September 2008, the Commerce Department said.
Analysts had expected a rate of more than 600,000 housing starts.
"It doesn’t bode too well. We really want to see an uptick here, as obviously housing is so important," said Dan Cook at IG Markets.
"If we can get more starts, we’re putting more people to work and that would be very positive, and unfortunately we just didn’t see that today."
New applications for building permits, considered a good sign of future activity, fell by 1.2% in September.
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