President Donald Trump announces exemptions to 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada. However, tariff uncertainties cause confusion for Houston businesses.

– Sales of new homes rose 1.6% in December after a big decline in November that was even worse than previously thought. The increase last month pushed sales of new homes to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 842,000, the Commerce Department reported Thursday, though that was fewer than analysts had projected. And the big drop reported earlier for November's was revised downward further, from 841,000 to 829,000 new homes sold. Regionally sales were uneven in December, with the biggest movement in the Midwest where sales jumped more than 30%. Sales in the Northeast and South fell between 5% and 6%, while the West saw sales increase almost 9%.