A report released by the Commerce Department on Wednesday showed a sharp increase in new residential construction in the U.S. in the month of March but a steep drop in building permits.
The Commerce Department said housing starts soared by 10.8 percent to an annual rate of 1.502 million in March after tumbling by 3.0 percent to a rate of 1.356 million in February. Economists had expected housing starts to come in at an annual rate of 1.400 million.
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June 19, 2026 16:46 ET Major central banks continued to dominate the economic news flow this week too, led by the Federal Reserve, as they announced their latest policy decisions. The Federal Reserve policy session was in focus as it was the first to be led by the new chief Kevin Warsh. In Europe, central banks of the U.K. and Switzerland announced their rate decisions. In Asia, the Bank of Japan drew attention for its policy moves, while data out of China threw some light on the state of the economy.