Appeals court pauses action seeking to block Trump tariffs; Pending home sales decline; Jobless claims rise

A federal appeals court has temporarily paused enforcement of a trade court's ruling that struck down global reciprocal tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump’s administration. White House officials said the government may seek permanent relief from the Supreme Court.

The Thursday appeals ruling came after a three-judge panel of the Court of International Trade late Wednesday ruled Trump exceeded authority granted in emergency-powers laws and ordered the administration to stop collecting many of the imposed fees. That included tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China that were intended to fight drug trafficking in the U.S., and some geared to correcting trade imbalances with other countries. It did not include industry-focused tariffs affecting items such as steel, aluminum and cars.

The judges gave the Trump administration 10 days to complete a formal process to stop tariffs. Prior to the appeals court action, analysts said the government has options to keep some tariffs in place with modifications requiring congressional approval. Those include a temporary hike in the current 10% base tariff imposed on all imported goods.

“This ruling represents a setback for the administration’s tariff plans and increases uncertainty but might not change the final outcome for most major U.S. trading partners,” economists at Goldman Sachs said in a research note Thursday, referring to the trade court decision.

Tariff policy shifts in recent weeks have caused financial market gyrations and jolted U.S. consumer and business confidence amid inflation concerns. Markets were little changed Thursday, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 117 points or 0.3%, with the S&P 500 rising about 24 points or 0.4% and the Nasdaq gaining about 75 points for a 0.4% gain.

April’s single-family homes under contract to be sold dropped 6.3% from the prior month, as all four U.S. regions posted month-over-month declines, the National Association of Realtors reported Thursday. The Midwest was the only region to register a year-over-year increase in pending sales of existing homes, which declined 2.5% nationwide on an annual basis.

“At this critical stage of the housing market, it is all about mortgage rates,” NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said in a statement. “Despite an increase in housing inventory, we are not seeing higher home sales. Lower mortgage rates are essential to bring home buyers back into the housing market.”

Freddie Mac’s latest national lender survey showed 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaging 6.89% for the week ended May 29. That was up from 6.86% in the previous week but down from 7.03% in the corresponding week of 2024.

The NAR’s index gauging pending sales momentum posted at 71.3 for April, with 2001 used as a base of 100. Earlier reports from the trade group and Commerce Department said April’s completed sales of existing single-family homes declined 0.5% from the prior month, as sales of newly built houses rose 10.9%.

Initial U.S. claims for unemployment insurance reached 240,000 in the week ended May 24, increasing 14,000 from the prior week’s revised level but remaining within the 200,000-250,000 range of the past year in what remains a strong job market by historical standards, though hiring has slowed in some industries.

The Labor Department Thursday said continued claims in all programs, reported on a more delayed basis, totaled about 1.8 million for the week ended May 10, essentially unchanged from the prior week but higher than the 1.7 million for the comparable week of 2024.

“Initial claims rose to their highest level in four weeks in the week ended May 24, but were little changed on a trend basis,” Nancy Vanden Houten, lead U.S. economist for Oxford Economics, said in a statement. “Continued claims continue to creep higher, confirming that workers who lose their jobs are finding it tougher to find new employment.”