U.S. housing falls for 8th month

Friday, January 05, 2007

U.S. housing falls for 8th month
2007/1/5
WASHINGTON, AP

Construction activity in the United States showed further weakness as spending on homes dropped for a record eighth consecutive month.

The Commerce Department reported Wednesday that building activity edged down 0.2 percent in November to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of US$1.18 trillion (euro0.89 trillion). That followed declines of 0.3 percent in October and 0.8 percent in September.

The weakness was led by a 1.6 percent plunge in home construction, which followed an even bigger 1.7 percent drop in October. Analysts believe home building will remain weak for several more months as builders struggle to work down a huge backlog of unsold homes.

The slump in housing has been a big drag on the overall economy, trimming 1.2 percentage points off growth in the July-September quarter, when the economy slowed to a lackluster 2 percent growth rate. The slump in October and November indicates housing will remain a serious drag in the final three months of the year. The housing decline pushed spending on residential buildings down to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of US$589.3 million (euro445.4 million) in November.

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http://www.chinapost.com.tw/news/archives/business/200715/99219.htm