At long last, some good news from a pair of front-line economic reports.
Housing starts and new housing permits popped higher last month, the Census Bureau advises. After more than two years of nearly nonstop declines, robust increases in April in these two critical housing surveys lend fresh reason to think that the housing crisis, if not over, may at least be stabilizing.
Certainly the numbers look good for April, relative to the past. Housing starts jumped more than 8% last month, the strongest since last October. Meanwhile, new permits issued for building houses advanced nearly 5% last month–the highest since December 2006. In both cases, the actual numbers exceeded the consensus forecast by a healthy margin, according to Briefing.com.
April’s rebound in these numbers is all the more encouraging since both data series are considered leading indicators. Economists consider housing starts and new housing permits a sign of what may be coming rather than what’s passed.
Adding to the statistical cheer is yesterday’s better-than-expected update on inflation for April, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports.
But there’s still plenty to worry about. The notion that the economy may be at or near a bottom is one thing. Expecting a strong rebound is something else. Indeed, yesterday’s report showing a sharp loss for industrial production last month reminds that not all the news for April is encouraging.