Oil steady after US unemployment rate falls

NEW YORK (AP) ? Oil prices are steady after the government said the unemployment rate dropped to the lowest level since March 2009.

Benchmark crude fell by 4 cents on Friday to $100.15 per barrel in afternoon trading in New York. Brent crude rose by 29 cents to $109 a barrel in London.

Prices jumped earlier in the day after the government reported that the unemployment rate dropped last month to 8.6 percent. With more people working, gasoline demand should rise.

Traders also noted that the surprising dip in the unemployment rate included 300,000 people who gave up searching for jobs along with the 120,000 jobs that were added to the economy.

"There was a knee-jerk reaction to the jobs report, but the economy isn't as rosy as the headlines suggest," independent analyst and trader Stephen Schork said.

Oil prices have climbed most of the week, following a series of developments that suggested higher oil demand and tighter global supplies ahead.

Tensions grew over Iran's nuclear program. Iran is accused of developing nuclear weapons and Western nations are considering sanctions against the oil-rich nation. Meanwhile the Fed and the central banks of other countries are increasing the flow of dollars to foreign banks to boost lending around the world. And robust Black Friday sales in the U.S. and the lower unemployment rate were both positive signs for the world's biggest oil consumer.

In other energy trading, heating oil rose 1.65 cents to $2.986 per gallon, while gasoline futures rose by 4.1 cents to $2.5989 per gallon. Natural gas fell by 5.5 cents to $3.593 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2011-12-02-Oil%20Prices/id-ff41a99abe0d45f696233fc74d8f709d

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