IMPEACH BUSH

As Washington works to shore up Wall Street and the U.S. faces its biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression, home construction and consumer confidence have hit new lows.

The University of Michigan/Reuters index, which has been measuring consumer confidence since 1952, said Friday that the index fell to 57.5 in October compared with a reading of 70.3 in late September. This was the largest monthly decline in the history of the survey. Economists surveyed by Reuters had expected a reading of 65.5.

One-year median inflation expectations were up to 4.5%, from 4.3% in September, even as consumers face a deteriorating job market and financial uncertainty.

The Conference Board of Canada also released a survey Friday that showed consumer sentiment in the country dropped to its lowest level since 1982.

Constructions for new homes and apartments hit a 17-year low on Friday when the U.S. Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development jointly released the latest figures on building permits and housing starts.

The agencies reported privately owned housing starts in September were at a rate of 817,000, 6.3% below the August estimate of 872,000 and 31.1% below the year-prior levels. Economists surveyed by Thomson/IFR had expected a rate of 880,000 units. This is the lowest rate since the beginning of 1991.

There were approximately 1,097,000 privately owned housing completions in September, 20.4% below the year-prior period.

As for single-family housing, the rate for starts was at 544,000 units, 12.0% below August's rate and the lowest rate since February 1982. Single-family housing completions in September were at a rate of 806,000, 17.0% above the August figure of 689,000.

While this isn't a good sign for home builders, it means that record high inventory levels are declining. The U.S. economy has had too large a surplus on houses, adding to the bubble that began the recent financial crisis. This will continue to bring real estate values back to reasonable levels as the number of unsold homes decreases.

New building permits in September were down 8.3% to an annual rate of 786,000 units from the upwardly revised 857,000 units reported in August. Economists were expecting a 850,000 unit annual rate for building permits in September.

Single-family permits fell 3.8%, to 532,000 annual units, the lowest level seen since August 1982. Permits for buildings with five units or more fell 17.6% to 225,000 annual units.

Home builder stocks were mostly down on Friday morning after the housing starts announcement. Hovnanian Enterprises (nyse: HOV - news - people ) slipped 5 cents, to trade at $4.75; while D.R. Horton (nyse: DHI - news - people ) fell 7.3%, or 54 cents, to $6.84; and Pulte Homes (nyse: PHM - news - people ) slid 49 cents, or 4.7%, to $10.20.

Reuters contributed to this article.