The Commerce department released a report indicating that home construction declined in February. Construction of new homes and apartments registered a seasonally adjusted rate of 575,000 units. This is 5.9 percent below the revised January estimate of 611,000, but is 0.2 percent above the February 2009 rate of 574,000.

Building permits, considered a good gauge of future construction activity, fell 1.6 percent to an annual rate of 612,000 units after having fallen a larger 4.7 percent in January. This is 1.6 percent below the revised January rate of 622,000, but is 11.3 percent above February last year.

The February figures included the 0.6 percent decline in single-family construction to 499,000 units and the more volatile multi-family sector falling 30.3 percent to an annual rate of 76,000 units.

In the Northeast, there was a 9.6 percent drop. In the South was a 15.5 percent decline. Both regions were affected by snowstorms in February.

The construction activity improved in the Midwest by 10.6 percent and in the West by 7.9 percent. Single-family housing starts in February were at a rate of 499,000. This is 0.6 percent below the revised January figure of 502,000. The February rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 58,000.