The Commerce Department reports housing starts for September ran at a 1.13 million seasonally adjusted annual rate, down 4.7%. Economists expected a 1.17 million pace but starts are 6.1% higher compared to a year ago. Starts for single family homes were also down, but are 9.1% higher for the year to date compared to 2016. Housing permits, which give indications of future activity, also fell down 4.5% for the month, and 4.3% lower compared to September 2016.
The cost of long-term care just keeps going up and most Americans keep believing — incorrectly — that the government will cover most or all of it. Those are the findings of a new report, the Genworth 2017 Cost of Care Survey, released today by Genworth Financial. A private room in a nursing home now costs consumers more than $8,000 a month, or $97,455 a year, according to the report, which provides national median figures. That’s an increase of 5.5% from just one year ago and a nearly 50% increase since 2004.
Serving the West Side first, I am Bill Roller of BR Capital for 1360 KUIK.
