Trading halted again in China...Eurozone jobless rate drops...Survey: Health care progress stalls

HONG KONG (AP) — "Circuit breakers" have suspended trading in China for the second time this week after the Shanghai Composite tumbled 7.3 percent. Market analyst Angus Nicholson says this week's sell-off shows the Chinese government's intervention last year to prop up the market only delayed an inevitable slump. The Dow starts trading today a 16,906 after dropped more than 250 points on Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Investors will get the Labor Department's weekly jobless claims report today. Freddie Mac will release its weekly mortgage rate figures. And from the corporate world, Walgreens Boots Alliance will report quarterly financial results before the market opens.

BRUSSELS (AP) — There are some mixed economic indicators from Europe today. On the up side, unemployment across the eurozone has fallen to its lowest rate in a little more than four years. The statistics agency Eurostat says it dropped to 10.5 percent in November, with about 16.9 million people out of work in the 19 member countries. However, big disparities remain across the region with countries such as Spain and Greece still lumbered with jobless rates above 20 percent. At the same time, Eurostat says retail sales fell 0.3 percent in November, the third straight monthly decline.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A major survey finds progress has stalled on reducing the number of uninsured Americans under President Barack Obama's health care law. The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index finds the share of U.S. adults without health insurance was 11.9 percent in the last three months of 2015, essentially unchanged from the start of the year. The ongoing survey involves daily interviews with 500 people and has been used by media, social scientists and administration officials to track the law's impact. The latest report comes after the Republican-led Congress passed legislation repealing the Affordable Care Act. The president plans to veto it.

PARIS (AP) — Designer Karl Lagerfeld's finances are getting some scrutiny. French authorities are investigating whether Lagerfeld used offshore tax havens to avoid paying millions of euros to the French government. A spokeswoman says Lagerfeld had no intention of evading the law, and trusts his financial advisers to work out the situation with the tax authorities. The case does not concern Chanel, where Lagerfeld has been chief designer since the 1980s.

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.