Initial U.S. claims for unemployment benefits fell last week, suggesting the economy still avoids a wave of mass layoffs in the final stretch of 2024. The Labor Department said Thursday that 219,000 people filed for new unemployment benefits in the week ending Dec. 21, compared with 220,000 the week before and market expectations for 225,000. The U.S. unemployment rate is currently 4.2 percent, which is still fairly modest by the standards of the past decade. But at 202...