Last week, U.S. initial jobless claims fell to one of the lowest levels of the year, highlighting the volatility of this data during the holiday season. Data released by the U.S. Department of Labor on Wednesday showed that initial jobless claims fell by 16,000 to 199,000 for the week ending December 27, below economists’ expectations of 220,000. Recent data has been volatile, which is typical during the holiday season. The latest reporting period included Christmas, as well as the newly established federal holidays on December 24 and 26. Additionally, continuing claims fell to 1.87 million in the previous week.