In the United States, housing construction rose by 6.8% in February.

WASHINGTON, March 17, the US Census Bureau reported on Thursday that new housing construction increased by 6.8% in February, compared to January in the US market during the period of rising inflation when material prices rose due to supply problems. According to the Census Bureau, construction of 1,769,000 homes with private shares began in February, an increase compared to 1,657,000 that began in January. The figure for February is 22.3% higher than in the same month of 2021 when it reached 1,447,000. Most of the newly built homes are single-family homes (69%), while the rest are apartments in buildings with five or more houses. The Census Bureau also reported that 1,309,000 homes were completed last month, 5.9% fewer than in January and 2.8% fewer than homes completed a year ago. The number of permits issued by the competent authorities in connection with the approval of housing decreased by 1.9% to 1,859,000 compared to January. This data is released at a time when the United States is experiencing a very high inflation rate of 7.9%, partly due to a bottleneck in the global supply chain that has led to a significant increase in building material prices. Reforming/copying