U.S. housing starts fall 2.8% in October

``Construction started on new U.S. homes fell 2.8% in October, led down by volatile apartment building, according to government data released Wednesday. The annual rate of total housing starts declined to 1.01 million last month from 1.04 million in September, the U.S. Commerce Department reported. The October starts rate in buildings with at least five units dropped 15.5%. Meanwhile, construction starts for single-family homes rose 4.2% to hit the highest pace since November 2013. Economists polled by MarketWatch had expected an overall October starts rate of 1.03 million, compared with an originally estimated pace of 1.02 million in September''