Housing Starts in U.S. Unexpectedly Fall to 523,000 Pace; Permits Decline

Housing starts in the U.S. unexpectedly fell in April as flooding and tornadoes in the South shut down construction sites and homebuilders continued to struggle almost two years into an economic recovery.

Work began on 523,000 houses at an annual pace, down 11 percent from the prior month and less than the 569,000 median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News, figures from the Commerce Department showed today in Washington.

Read more at Bloomberg News.