US commercial paper market contracts in week - Fed

NEW YORK Dec 17 (Reuters) - The U.S. commercial paper market contracted for the fourth straight week, underscoring that the market's recent expansion has stalled amid a muted economic recovery, Federal Reserve data showed on Thursday.

For the week ended Dec. 16, the size of the U.S. commercial paper market, a vital source of short-term funding for companies' daily operations, fell by $59.6 billion to $1.150 trillion outstanding from $1.210 trillion the previous week. (Reporting by John Parry and Tom Ryan; Editing by James Dalgleish)