Home Starts Up - Inflation Not Helping

Consumer prices resurged a bit and builders broke ground on more new homes in December, but the activity did little to change economists' view that inflation is cooling and that the housing slump has yet to hit bottom.

A bump up in energy prices caused consumer prices to rise 0.5% in December from a month earlier after remaining flat or falling in the three previous months, the Labor Department reported yesterday. Excluding food and energy, so-called core prices — a measure officials at the Federal Reserve watch closely — rose 0.2%, in line with economists' expectations, as apparel retailers ratcheted back holiday discounts. Compared with a year earlier, overall prices rose 2.5% and core prices were up 2.6%.

Meanwhile, unusually warm weather prompted new-home construction to rise for the second consecutive month, the Commerce Department reported. At a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.64 million in December, housing starts were up 4.5% from November, but still down 18% for the year. All of the gain came in multi-unit structures such as apartment buildings. Construction of new single-family homes, which account for about three-fourths of total activity, fell 4.1% in December from the previous month despite the warm weather. Single-family housing starts were down 25% from a year earlier.

Economists saw the reports as well within the game plan of Fed policy makers, who expect persistent weakness in housing to help cool the economy, gradually bringing core inflation back down to a more acceptable annual level of 1% to 2%. In the fourth quarter, core prices rose at an annualized rate of 1.4%.  

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