Japanese housing starts rise unexpectedly, data show

NEW YORK (Forex News Now) – Japanese housing starts rose unexpectedly in November, data showed on Monday in one of the day’s major realtime forex news events.

In a report likely to impact currency market trading, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism said that the number of new residential buildings that began construction rose by an annualized 6.8% in November, following a rise of 6.4% in October.

Analysts had expected the November reading to come in at just 5.0%, according to online FX trading news outlets.

The data is a key indicator of economic health because construction has an effect on jobs and services.