New home sales rise; Tariff policies weigh on travel to US; Jobless claims decline

April’s U.S. sales of newly built single-family homes rose by a better-than-expected 10.9% from the prior month and increased 3.3% from a year earlier, providing some positive news to builders after earlier reports showed flattening sales for existing single-family homes.

New homes sold at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 743,000 units in April, according to the latest data from the Commerce Department and Department of Housing and Urban Development. The median sales price for new homes was $407,200, down from $415,300 a year ago and marking the fourth consecutive month of year-over-year declines.

The National Association of Homebuilders said the latest numbers pointed to a volatile spring selling season at a time of rising uncertainty over tariffs, interest rates and future building material costs, as home builders reduce prices to lure buyers.

“The April new home sales figure appears to be an anomaly, as builder sentiment moved markedly lower in May,” NAHB Chairman Buddy Hughes said in a statement. “A more reliable look would be the year-to-date figures, which show new home sales are down 1.2% on elevated interest rates, ongoing policy uncertainty and rising construction costs.”

The National Association of Realtors reported earlier that April’s sales of existing homes were down 0.5% from the prior month and dropped 2% from a year earlier. NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz said rising inventory in the resale market “is likely to place pressure on both pricing and sales activity for home builders during the second half of the year.”

Global tensions over U.S. tariff policies have begun to weigh on inbound travel by international visitors, according to a report by data firm Tourism Economics.

The firm’s latest forecast predicts inbound passenger visits to the U.S. will fall 8.7% on an annual basis in 2025, a slight improvement from the 9.4% decline in the firm’s March forecast. Contributing factors include the Trump administration’s posturing and politics, including its tariffs, as well as incidents at border crossings that are creating negative sentiment among residents of other countries toward the U.S.

The sharpest annual drops in visitations this year are expected to come from Canada at 20.2% and Western Europe at 5.8%. Tourism Economics said there was a 35.2% decline in April from Canadian land visitors returning from trips to the U.S. and a 19.9% drop in air visitors.

Researchers said overall international visitor spending in the U.S. is projected to fall by $8.5 billion, or 4.7%, this year compared to 2024.

Initial U.S. claims for unemployment insurance reached 227,000 for the week ended May 17, down 2,000 from the prior week and adding to recently mixed economic signals in a tight job market.

The latest Labor Department numbers showed claims have generally fluctuated between 200,000 and 250,000 for the past year, even as corporate and federal workforce reductions rose significantly from a year earlier in the first four months of 2025.

Analysts at Oxford Economics said the job market remains stable by historical standards, though continued claims remain elevated as some laid-off workers face challenges finding new positions. Insurance claims by federal employees ticked back up in the latest report but remain below levels of late February, when the first round of government layoffs took effect.

“Our baseline forecast is for federal layoffs to accelerate in the months ahead, but a recent court ruling has put those layoffs on hold,” Oxford Lead U.S. Economist Nancy Vanden Houten said in a statement.