Housing Starts Drop 3% for December

Privately owned housing starts in December 2001 came in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,570,000. This is 3 percent below the revised November estimate of 1,625,000, but is 2 percent above the same month a year ago, according to the U.S. Bureau of the Census.

Single-family housing starts nationwide in December were at a rate of 1,293,000, which is 4 percent above the revised November figure of 1,248,000. The December estimate for multi-unit buildings of five or more units was 263,000.