Jobless claims declined last week by 16,000 applications, Labor Department

Fewer Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week, the federal government reported Wednesday.

Applications for jobless claims in the U.S. for the week ending Dec. 27 fell by 16,000 to 199,000 from the previous week's 215,000, according to the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Analysts surveyed by the data firm FactSet forecast 208,000 new applications, according to the Associated Press...