New residential construction statistics for January showed mixed results compared with December but improvement across the board year-to-year, which could point to continued recovery for the home building industry.

Privately owned housing starts were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 591,000, a 2.8 percent increase from December’s estimate of 575,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. It was 21.1 percent above the January 2009 rate of 488,000.

The Midwest had a 3.2 percent decline in housing starts from December, but was up dramatically, 59.6 percent, from a year ago. The Midwest was the only region to post a decline in January from December, as the Northeast, West, and South posted increases of 10 percent, 8.9 percent and 1 percent, respectively.

January 2009 was the second-worst month of the year, with April’s figure of 479,000 starts the only lower total.

Privately owned housing units authorized by building permits in January were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 621,000, 4.9 percent below December’s rate but 16.9 percent above January 2009.

The Midwest, however, had a 20.2 percent drop in building permits issued from December, but was up 9.6 percent from January 2009. The Northeast and South reported 17.9 percent and 1.3 percent declines, respectively, from December, but 27.6 percent and 15.3 percent increases from January 2009. The West had an 8.5 percent increase from December and a 20.7 percent increase from a year ago.