US: Housing starts rose 18.6% in January vs 9.9% expected

"Privately‐owned housing starts in January were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,230,000," the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development jointly announced on Friday. 

Key takeaways from the press release

• This is 18.6 percent above the revised December estimate of 1,037,000, but is 7.8 percent below the January 2018 rate of 1,334,000. 
• Privately‐owned housing units authorized by building permits in January were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,345,000.  
  • This is 1.4 percent above the revised December rate of 1,326,000, but is 1.5 percent below the January 2018 rate of 1,366,000.