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Existing home sales fell 0.8% in December and purchases for the year fell by the most since 1989, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday.

Western freight railroad Union Pacific Corp. said Thursday its fourth-quarter profit jumped to $485 million or $1.78 a share, from $296 million or $1.10 cents for the same quarter a year earlier.

Ford Motor Co. lost $5.8 billion in the fourth quarter amid slumping sales and huge restructuring costs, pushing the No. 2 U.S. automaker’s s loss for the year to $12.7 billion, the largest in its 103-year history, the Associated Press reported.

First-time U.S. jobless claims rose by 36,000 last week to 325,000, the Labor Department said Thursday.

Wireless-services provider Qualcomm Inc. said late Wednesday its fiscal first-quarter profit rose to $648 million or 38 cents a share, up from $620 million or 36 cents a year earlier.

Covenant Transport late Thursday reported a fourth-quarter loss of $894,000 or 6 cents a share, compared with a profit of $4 million or 28 cents a year earlier.

Truckload carrier Heartland Express said its fourth-quarter profit fell to $19.6 million or 20 cents a share, from $21.6 million or 22 cents a year earlier.

Arkansas Best Corp.’s fourth-quarter net income fell to $14.2 million or 56 cents a share, from $30.2 million or $1.20 a year earlier, the company said Wednesday.

President Bush outlined an energy plan Tuesday that would boost the use of alternate fuels such as ethanol and biodiesel, and would seek a 20% reduction in gasoline use in the next 10 years, news services reported.