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Housing starts inched up 0.8% in January, remaining close to the 17 year low reached last month, the Commerce Department said Wednesday.

The increase brought the annual rate ofusing starts to 1.012 million homes, Commerce said.

Building permits, an indicator of new construction, fell 3% to 1.048 million in January, Bloomberg reported.

Both the uptick in housing starts and the fall in permits were in line with analyst expectations, Bloomberg said.