Housing Starts Tumbled 2.2% In September --- Recent Negative Reports Aren't Regarded as Sign Of Return to Recession
WASHINGTON -- A sharp drop in September housing starts capped off a week of ominous economic news.</br></br>Housing starts dropped 2.2% last month, the Commerce Department said, joining earlier reports of falling exports, stalling industrial production and a surge in consumer prices.</br></br>In addition to September's drop in housing starts, revised figures scaled back the increases that were originally reported for July and August.</br></br>"This really is a bad package of news, there's no question about it," said David Seiders, chief economist with the National Association of Home Builders.</br></br>Still, despite all the recent reports, many economists predict the recovery will continue to limp along. The drop in housing starts isn't the start of a recurring recession, but rather a temporary plateau, said Martin Regalia, chief economist with the National Council of Community Bankers. "It doesn't really show a fall -- the amount of the drop is well within the range of statistical noise," he said. "This is just a pause or respite in what will be a very slow expansion."