Groundbreaking on new U.S. homes eased from the fastest pace in 13 months while permits held steady to finish the strongest year for housing construction in a decade, government figures showed Thursday. Residential starts fell 8.2% to a 1.19m annualized rate (est. 1.28m) after 1.3m pace in prior month; biggest drop since Nov. 2016. Single-family home starts fell 11.8% to 836k; multifamily rose 1.4% to 356k. Permits, a proxy for future construction of all types of homes, fell 0.1% to 1.302m rate (est. 1.295m) from 1.303m pace. The decline in starts suggests that November's jump in home construction was more of a ... (full story)