Us Housing Permits Breach 1 Million Mark, Highest in 5 1/2 Years

Permits for future U.S. home construction rose to their highest level in nearly 5-1/2 years in October, suggesting the housing market recovery remained intact despite recent signs of slowing down.

The Commerce Department said on Tuesday building permits jumped 6.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.03 million units. That was the highest rate since June 2008. Permits increased 5.2 percent in September.

August's permits were revised to a 926,000-unit pace from the previously reported 918,000 units.

Permits, which lead housing starts by at least a month, were up 13.9 percent from a year ago.

The department postponed the release of figures on housing starts and completions for September and October until Dec. 18 because the collection of data was affected by a 16-day shutdown of the government last month.

November data also will be published at that time.

The partial shutdown of the federal government also delayed the publishing of the September and October permits reports.

Economists polled by Reuters had expected building permits at a 930,000-unit rate in October.

While permits are not counted in gross domestic product (GDP)...