Housing starts in Japan were down for the fifth consecutive month in November, as the total figure shed 0.4% annually to 84,703 after a 4.8% annual drop in October, official data showed.
Construction of privately owned houses slipped 4.2% in November, after declining 4.8% in the month before, but built-for-sale house starts posted an increase of 8.7% after a 4.8% decrease in October.