U.S. home construction ticks up in April, but remains sluggish

WASHINGTON, May 17 (Xinhua) -- U.S. housing starts ticked up in April, according to data released Wednesday by the Commerce Department, but the housing market remains sluggish.

New home construction in April increased 2.2 percent from the revised March estimate to an annual rate of 1.40 million units.

The bump was driven by a rise in multi-family construction.

The housing sector has been in a major slump for months, and new construction in April was down 22.3 percent year on year.

Housing completions in April were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,375,000, which was 10.4 percent below the revised March estimate, but was 1.0 percent above the April 2022 rate of 1,361,000.