Canadian housing starts rise less than expected in September

TORONTO (Reuters) - Canadian housing starts rose 5% in September compared with the previous month as groundbreaking increased on multi-unit and single-family-detached urban homes, data from the national housing agency showed on Wednesday.

The seasonally adjusted annualized rate of housing starts rose to 223,808 units from a revised 213,012 units in August, the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation said. Economists had expected starts to rise to 237,500 units.

(Reporting by Fergal Smith; Editing by Andrew Heavens)