Signs of life

摘要

Last month we talked about stimulus plans that participants in the housing market were seeking, and what the government was planning to deliver. My apologies to Vice President Joseph Biden, who I've since learned is a big fan of Amtrak, for giving subsidized rail travel the short shrift.rnMaybe additional stimulus won't be needed. That's good, because there may not be any money left after all the executives at the collapsed companies get their mul-timillion dollar bonuses. Still, there's some good news out there. February housing starts unexpectedly jumped 22 percent during January, according to the Commerce Department, breaking an eight-month streak of declines. Much of this gain was due to multifamily construction. Housing starts were still 47 percent lower than starts in February 2008, however.