U.S. unemployment is hovering near the lowest level in a decade, jobless claims have reached a 43-year low and home prices have surged to records. But in this eighth year of economic expansion, the number of single-family homes under construction remains at recessionary levels.

Housing starts dropped 18.7% in November to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.090 million, the Commerce Department said Friday. Permits, an indication of how much construction is in the pipeline, were down a milder 4.7% to 1.201 million.

Monthly housing figures are choppy, but the broader trend has been one of slow growth. New single-family home construction has more than doubled to a rate of 828,000 homes in November after bottoming at 353,000 in early 2009, but overall activity remains muted.

Adjusting for population growth, single-family construction is barely back to the prior troughs of recessions in 1981 and 1991, according to research from mortgage giant Fannie Mae. Even October’s monthly readings, which showed single-family starts at the highest level in nine years, were more than 15% below long-run averages.

Sparse construction of new houses remains one of the enduring legacies of the housing bust and is one of the biggest impediments to achieving a more balanced recovery, economists said.