Housing starts jumped 5.5% in April, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.

CMHC said Monday that builders were producing homes at an annual rate of 230,400 units, up from 218,400 units in March. The strong growth was attributed to “favourable economic factors, such as high levels of employment and low mortgage rates, continue to stimulate residential construction,” said CMHC chief market economist Bob Dugan.

The housing agency takes monthly house-building figures, adjusts them to remove seasonal variations and multiplies them by 12 to calculate the annual number.