Hurricane Florence, Rising Mortgage Rates Hurt U.S. Homebuilding

U.S. homebuilding dropped more than expected in September as construction activity in the South fell by the most in nearly three years, likely held down by Hurricane Florence.
Other details of the report published by the Commerce Department on Wednesday were also soft. Building permits declined to their lowest level in almost 1-1/2 years and homebuilding completions were the fewest since November 2017.