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U.S. housing starts rise 6.7% in November:

By Rex Nutting
Last Update: 8:30 AM ET Dec 19, 2006

http://tinyurl.com/y7q49l

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - Construction on new homes rebounded in November, rising 6.7% after a whopping 14% drop in October, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday.

Building permits, meanwhile, fell 3% to a fresh nine-year low, signaling that the housing market remains very weak.

Starts rose 6.7% in November to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.588 million. Starts are down 25.5% in the past year. Building permits, considered a leading indicator, fell 3% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.506 million.

Building permits are down 31.3% in the past year. The pace of starts in November was above the expected 1.54 million, while permits fell short of the 1.55 million expected by economists polled by MarketWatch.