UPDATE 1-Canada January housing starts slow as energy slump bites

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OTTAWA, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Canadian housing starts slowed in
January as groundbreaking on new homes fell to the lowest level
in four years in provinces that have been hurt by the downturn
in the energy sector, a report from the national housing agency
showed on Friday.
The seasonally adjusted annualized rate of housing starts
fell to 165,861 units last month from a downwardly revised
172,533 units in December, the Canadian Mortgage and Housing
Corp (CMHC) said. The report had originally been scheduled for
release on Feb. 8.
Bob Dugan, CMHC's chief economist, said the overall decline
was mostly attributable to a slowdown in the Prairie provinces,
with the six-month moving average in the region at a four-year
low.
Separate data on Friday showed that in Alberta, where the
country's vast oil sands are located, January's unemployment
rate rose to its highest level since February 1996.
In the Prairies, which include Alberta, Saskatchewan and
Manitoba, starts in urban areas fell 8.9 percent to 29,273
units.
"That makes a lot of sense given we're seeing a pretty
dramatic slowdown in housing demand in areas like Calgary," said
Robert Kavcic, senior economist at BMO Capital Markets.
Nonetheless, the overall number of starts was weaker than
expected given unusually warm winter weather in parts of the
country, said Kavcic, who had been anticipating something closer
to 190,000.
Ontario, Canada's most populous province, was a standout
with urban starts rising 12.7 percent to 58,602 units.
"This is probably something you're going to see right
through 2016 where housing starts in (the Prairies) grind down a
little bit further still," said Kavcic. "On the flip side,
you're probably going to see stability, if not some more
strength, in areas like Toronto and Vancouver."