U.S. building permits increased to 1.080 million units in April, from 1.000 million units in March. March’s figure was revised up from 0.990 million units. Analysts had expected an increase to 1.010 million units. That was the highest level since 2008.

U.S. housing starts rose to 1.072 million units in April, from 0.947 million in March. March’s figure was revised up from 0.946 million units. Analysts had forecasted an increase to 0.980 million units. That was the best figure since November 2013

The sharp rise of the U.S. housing starts was driven by a big jump in multifamily homes. Construction of multifamily homes was up almost 40.0%. Construction of single-family homes increased only 0.8%.