1. U.S. Stalls Weapons Shipment to Israel in Bid to Stop Rafah Offensive — US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the US has paused the supply of “high-payload” munitions to Israel over concerns about a potential military offensive on the Gazan city of Rafah. The delivery was supposed to contain 3,500 bombs, split roughly evenly between 2,000-pound (907-kilogram) and 500-pound explosives, according to a senior administration official. Austin, speaking separately, said no final decision has been made on the shipment. Austin told a Senate Appropriations panel on Wednesday. Washington is worried about the damage the large bombs could inflict on dense urban areas like Rafah, where about 1.4 million Palestinians are sheltering from Israel’s war with Hamas.
2. House Blocks Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Effort to Oust Mike Johnson as Speaker — The House voted to block a resolution by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R., Ga.) to oust Speaker Mike Johnson, with Democrats stepping in to help save the Republican leader. Greene had forced the vote late Wednesday despite the opposition of most other congressional Republicans and former President Donald Trump. The vote was 359-43 to table, or set aside, Greene’s motion, with seven voting present. Democratic leaders had previously said they would help Johnson (R., La.) block the motion, citing his decision to allow a successful vote on funding Ukraine in its war against Russia.
3. Weekly jobless claims jump to 231,000, the highest since August — Jobless claims totaled a seasonally adjusted 231,000 for the week ending on May 4, up 22,000 from the previous period and higher than the Dow Jones estimate for 214,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. It was the highest claims number since Aug. 26, 2023. The increase in claims follows a string of mostly strong hiring reports, though hiring in April was light compared with expectations. Also, job openings have been declining amid expectations that the labor market is likely to slow through the year. The report also showed that continuing claims, which run a week behind, increased to 1.78 million, up 17,000 from the previous week. The four-week moving average of claims, which helps smooth out weekly volatility in numbers, increased to 215,000, up 4,750 from the previous week.
4. Inflation Eases as Core Index Hits Lowest Level Since 2021 — The consumer-price index, a gauge for goods and service costs across the U.S. economy, rose 3.4% in April from a year ago, the Labor Department said Wednesday. So-called core prices that exclude volatile food and energy items climbed 3.6% annually, the lowest increase since April 2021. Both figures were in line with economists’ expectations. Because it will likely take another two reports to shore up officials’ confidence that inflation can return to the lower levels that prevailed before the pandemic, the Fed might not be ready to cut interest rates before September. Price pressures remain for millions of Americans. Gasoline prices pushed up overall inflation, while consumers continued paying more for housing in April. But year-over-year rent increases slowed from a month earlier, a key sign for economists that a big driver of inflation in recent years is slowly easing. Costs of groceries and vehicles also edged lower in April from the previous month, while price increases for medical care slowed.