Weekly jobless claims data

New Jobless Claims Dropped Last Week; Continuing Claims Rose

WASHINGTON -- New claims for unemployment benefits made a surprisingly large drop last week, the largest in 16 years.

Initial claims for jobless benefits fell by 94,000 to a seasonally adjusted 492,000 in the week ended Dec. 27 from an unrevised 586,000 the week before, the Labor Department said Wednesday.

The number of continuing claims, ...