Rebounding from a tough winter, construction on new U.S. homes in March hit the fastest pace in three months, rising 2.8% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 946,000, led by single-family homes, the U.S. Commerce Department reported Wednesday. But March's pace missed expectations from economists, who were looking for a construction-starts rate of 990,000, compared with an original estimate of a 907,000 rate in February. On Wednesday, the government upwardly revised February's starts rate to 920,000. Despite March's gain, the starts rate was down 5.9% from the year-earlier period, the widest annual contraction since April 2011. Permits, a sign of future demand for housing, fell 2.4% in March to an annual rate of 990,000, led by a drop for apartments