Washington -- U.S. builders started work on new homes in December at the fastest pace in seven months, a sign housing escaped the slowdown in retail spending that caused manufacturing to slump.
A surge in construction of single-family homes caused housing starts to increase 0.3% last month to an annual rate of 1.575 million units, the U.S. Commerce Department said. The December pace was the fastest since 1.591 million in May. Analysts had expected a 3.3% decline.