Home construction tumbled in February, with major snowstorms crippling business already hobbled by foreclosures.
Separately, U.S. import prices in February posted their first monthly drop since July 2009, dragged down by lower fuel prices, indicating the Federal Reserve need not worry about inflation building up in the economy.
Housing starts decreased by 5.9% to a seasonally adjusted 575,000 annual rate compared to the prior month, the Commerce Department said Tuesday.
While that was the biggest decline in four months, it followed an upward revision in the previous month’s data, when starts staged a 6.6% gain. January starts were originally reported up 2.8%.
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