Mumbai, Feb. 19 -- A report released by the Commerce Department on Wednesday showed a sharp increase in new residential construction in the U.S. in the month of December.
The Commerce Department said housing starts spiked by 6.2 percent to an annual rate of 1.404 million in December after jumping by 3.9 percent to an annual rate of 1.322 million in November.
The continued surge by housing starts partly reflected a significant increase in multi-family starts, which soared by 11.3 percent to an annual rate of 423,000 in December after rising by 0.5 percent to an annual rate of 380,000 in November.
Single-family starts also shot up by 4.1 percent to an annual rate of 981,000 in December after surging by 5.4 percent to an annual rate of 942,...