P.M. BRIEFING : New Housing Off by 13.3% in ’90

WASHINGTON — Housing starts plummeted 13.3% last year, including a 12.4% drop in December, the government said today. It was the lowest annual level since the 1981-82 recession.

The Commerce Department said construction began on 1.19 million units in 1990, down from 1.38 million a year earlier. It was the smallest number of starts since 1.06 million units got under way in 1982.

Starts in December totaled a seasonally adjusted annual rate of just 987,000, down from 1.13 million in November. It was the lowest since June, 1982, when 902,000 units were started.

The 9.8% increase in starts in November was the first advance since last January. But the November gain was caused solely by a 92% increase in multifamily starts, which many analysts said could not be sustained.