The US Census Bureau issued today, Tuesday, data on building permits and housing starts in the United States during the past February, which were positive and higher than what market expectations indicated.

According to the data, the rate of home construction in the United States increased during February; housing starts rose by 10.7% year-on-year, reaching about 1.52 million units, which is better than market expectations that indicated an increase to about 1.43 million units only, and also higher than the previous reading for January, which showed a decline in housing starts to 1.37 million units, revised upward from 1.33 million units.

At the same time, the US Census Bureau data reported that building permits rose by 1.9% to record 1.52 million permits by the end of February, after expectations indicated an increase to about 1.50 million permits, while the previous reading had shown a decline in building permits to 1.49 million units during the previous January, after being revised from 1.47 million units.

It is worth noting that building permits is an indicator showing the annual number of new residential buildings whose construction began during the previous month, and it is a key indicator of economic health because building construction results in a wide-ranging multiplier effect. For example, jobs are created for construction workers, subcontractors and inspectors are hired, and various construction services are purchased by the builder.