Housing construction in the United States has fallen to its lowest level in the past 17 years amid fears of a lasting economic recession.

A report released by the U.S. Commerce Department on Wednesday said construction of new homes dropped by 6.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 895,000 units in August.
The sharp fall took analysts by surprise as they were expecting a 1.6 percent decline. However, the figures were more promising for some parts of the country.
The Northeast and Midwest experienced drops of around 14 percent, while new home starts fell by 7.4 percent in the South. It was a different case all together in the West as construction increased by 10.8 percent.
The housing downturn in the United Stated has brought the country to the brink of a full economic recession as it has made billions of dollars of investments by some of the biggest mortgage lenders worthless.
(Source: Press TV)