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New housing starts rose for a second straight month in March, the Commerce Department said Tuesday.

Housing starts rose to a 1.518 million-unit annual rate, up 0.8% from February, Commerce said.

The March rate was above economists’ forecasts of a decline to a 1.495 million pace, Bloomberg reported.

Building permits, an indicator of future construction, rose to an annual rate of 1.544 million from 1.532 million.