US home construction fell 9.4% last month

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. home building fell last month, driven by a sharp decline in the construction of new apartments.

The Commerce Department said Thursday that housing starts dropped 9.4% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.26 million. The construction of new apartments plunged 28.3% to an annual pace of 327,000.

On a brighter note, single-family home building ticked up 0.3% to an annual rate of 918,000. Single-family construction typically creates more jobs than apartment units.

September’s drop comes after overall home building, fueled by lower mortgage rates, reached a 12-year high in August. Sales of existing homes rose to a 17-month high that month and sales of new homes jumped.

Building permits, a measure of future construction, slipped 2.7% in September to 1.39 million.