Housing
starts surged 12.1 percent in December to 954,000 at an annualized rate. November
housing starts were revised down to 851,000 from a prior reading of 861,000.
Economists
expected starts to rise just 3.3 percent to 890,000.
Building
permits climbed 0.3 percent to 903,000, missing expectations of a 0.5 percent
rise.