国际英语新闻：Crude prices surge on U.S. economic data

NEW YORK, Nov. 24 (Xinhua) -- Crude prices surged on Wednesday as U.S. economic data boosted the energy market.

The Commerce Department said consumer incomes rose 0.5 percent and spending increased 0.4 percent last month.

The Labor Department said that the number of people filing for jobless claims dropped sharply to 407,000 in the week that ended on Nov. 20, while analysts were expecting a much smaller decline.

Meanwhile, the Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index rose to 76.1 in November, up from 67.7 last month.

The Energy Department said on Wednesday that commercial inventories of crude oil rose 1 million barrels in the week to Nov. 19. Gasoline inventories increased 1.9 million barrels.

Light, sweet crude for January delivery gained 2.61 U.S. dollars to 83.86 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

In London, Brent crude for delivery in January leaped by 2.59 dollars to 85.84 dollars a barrel.