Dive Brief:

• Data released for the U.S. economy in the last quarter of last year showed a growth rate of 3.2%, but for the first time in more than three years, the housing industry was not helping to pull up the gross domestic product.
• Home-construction investment was pretty much flat from the third quarter while a component that includes spending on renovation and on brokers' commissions fell, which altogether took 0.0033% off the total.
• Economists asked about the change in performance for the industry were unworried, however, citing bad weather and volatility in the home-improvement component as possible reasons and saying housing could resume its upward march this year – if the economy can create enough jobs.

Dive Insight:

The Commerce Department calls the part of housing that fell last quarter "other structures," and it was down from an annual rate of $295 billion in the third quarter to $282 billion in the last three months of the year. That might come back up in 2014, experts said, but what matters most is whether businesses create enough jobs to create a pool of buyers who can spur construction.