Home building up 5.8% in Dec.

WASHINGTON — U.S. home construction jumped 5.8% in December to 1.67 million units, a 14-year high that topped the strongest annual showing from the country’s builders in 15 years.

The better-than-expected gain followed an increase of 9.8% in November when housing starts climbed to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.58 million units, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.

The December pace was the strongest since the building rate reached 1.72 million units in September 2006.

For the year, construction began on 1.45 million units, up 4.8% from 2019 and the best pace since construction starts totaled 1.8 million units in 2006. That period included a massive U.S. housing boom.