FILE - The Federal Reserve Building is seen in Washington Thursday, Jan. 14, 2010 file photo. Don't expect the Federal Reserve to let up in its drive to keep stimulating the economy with record-low interest rates. Not yet, anyway. That's the view of economists as Fed policymakers hold a two-day meeting that starts Tuesday March 19, 2013. On Wednesday, the Fed will issue a policy statement and update its economic forecasts, and Chairman Ben Bernanke will hold a news conference. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
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FILE - The Federal Reserve Building is seen in Washington Thursday, Jan. 14, 2010 file photo. Don't expect the Federal Reserve to let up in its drive to keep stimulating the economy with record-low interest rates. Not yet, anyway. That's the view of economists as Fed policymakers hold a two-day meeting that starts Tuesday March 19, 2013. On Wednesday, the Fed will issue a policy statement and update its economic forecasts, and Chairman Ben Bernanke will hold a news conference. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
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Protesters hold up their hands as they protest outside the parliament in capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Monday, March 18, 2013. A vote on a bailout package for Cyprus that includes an immediate tax on all savings accounts has been postponed until Tuesday evening. Yiannakis Omirou, the speaker of Parliament, said the delay was needed to give the government time to amend the deal reached over the weekend that prompted an outcry from those who thought their money was safe. In order to get euro 10 billion ($13 billion) in bailout loans from international creditors, Cyprus agreed to take a percentage of all deposits — including ordinary citizens' savings — an unprecedented step in Europe's 3 ½-year debt crisis. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)
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In this Thursday, Dec. 6, 2012, photo a new home is constructed in Pepper Pike, Ohio. US home construction surges 12.1 percent in December to end best year since 2008. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)
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In this Friday, Oct. 12, 2012, photo, workers construct a new home in Chicago. U.S. builders started construction last month on the most single-family homes and apartments since July 2008, more evidence that the housing recovery is gaining momentum. The Commerce Department says housing starts jumped 3.6 percent in October from September to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 894,000. Single-family home construction dipped 0.2 percent after hitting the fastest rate in four years in the previous month. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
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In this Thursday, Oct. 11, 2012, photo, Ford Smith works on a new home under construction in Chicago. U.S builders started construction last month on the most single-family homes and apartments since July 2008, more evidence that the housing recovery is gaining momentum. The Commerce Department says housing starts jumped 3.6 percent in October from September to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 894,000. Single-family home construction dipped 0.2 percent after hitting the fastest rate in four years in the previous month. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
News Summary: US housing permits at 4 ½-year high
HOUSING STARTS, PERMITS RISE: U.S. builders started more houses and apartments in February and received building permits for future construction at the fastest pace in 4 ½ years.
SECOND-FASTEST: Builders broke ground at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 917,000 homes. That's the second-fastest rate since June 2008, behind December's rate of 982,000.
PERMITS REACH NEW HIGH: The gains are likely to grow even faster in the coming months. Building permits, a sign of future construction, increased 4.6 percent to 946,000. That was also the most since June 2008, just a few months into the Great Recession.
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rise, news summary, homes, gains, apartments, houses, percent, business, ground, great recession, building, great depression, late-2000s recession, housing starts, annual rate, fastest pace, u.s. builders, building permits, future construction, housing permits, reach new high, second-fastest rate
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