* China's economic growth slows in Q3, weighs on oil * U.S. crude inventory rise helps curb oil prices * Coming up: U.S. jobless claims 8:30 a.m. EDT Thurs NEW YORK, Oct 21 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures prices slipped on Thursday, consolidating after a nearly 3 percent jump on Wednesday, as data showing slower economic growth in China in the third quarter weighed on oil. Crude prices their biggest daily percentage gain in more than a month on Wednesday, after slumping more than 4 percent on Tuesday when China raised interest rates. Prices reached a five-month high of $84.43 on Oct. 7. [ID:nTOE69K00X] The price jump on Wednesday came despite the U.S. Energy Information Administration's weekly inventory report that said crude stocks rose 667,000 barrels in the week to Oct. 15, though the build was less than the 1.9 million barrel rise expected. [EIA/S] FUNDAMENTALS * On the New York Mercantile Exchange, December crude CLZ0 fell 59 cents, or 0.7 percent, to $81.95 a barrel at 8:19 a.m. EDT (1219 GMT), trading from $81.85 to $82.70. * China's third quarter Gross Domestic Product rose 9.6 percent, slightly better than forecasts for 9.5 percent year on year growth but down from 10.3 percent in the second quarter, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. [ID:nTOE69K00X] * China's apparent oil demand rose to the second highest on record in September, up 6.2 percent from a year earlier to about 8.68 million barrels per day, just off the June record of 8.9 million bpd, Reuters calculations based on preliminary official figures showed on Thursday. [ID:nTOE69K036] * China's commercial crude oil stocks fell by 3.4 percent in September versus August, the first decline in four months, China OGP reported on Thursday, despite record high crude imports and domestic production. [ID:nTOE69K08F] * Trade unions are still blocking about 14 fuel depots out of 200 across France as they continue to protest against an unpopular pension reform plan, the country's industry minister said on Thursday. [ID:nLDE69K0AV] * Markit's Eurozone Flash Services Purchasing Managers' Index, made up of surveys of around 2,000 businesses ranging from banks to restaurants, fell to 53.2 in October from September's 54.1, its lowest reading since February, suggesting economic recovery lost momentum. MARKETS NEWS * The dollar rose in early overnight trading after U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said ahead of a weekend G20 meeting in South Korea that major currencies were roughly in alignment. But the buck relinquished gains and the euro climbed back over $1.40 on speculation that the Federal Reserve may implement more dollar-negative quantitative easing next month. [MKTS/GLOB] [FRX/] * Gold steadied above $1,340 an ounce as waning investor interest was offset by the dollar's pull-back after the currency remarks from Geithner. [GOL/] UPCOMING EVENTS/DATA * The U.S. weekly jobless claims report is due at 8:30 a.m. EDT (1230 GMT) on Thursday, forecasters polled by Reuters expect 455,000 applied for unemployment benefits, down from last week's 462,000. * U.S. Energy Information Administration natural gas storage data at 10:30 a.m. EDT (1430 GMT) on Thursday. Forecast is for storage to be up 89 billion cubic feet. 8:19 LAST NET PCT LOW HIGH CURRENT DAY AGO CHNG CHNG VOL VOL CLc1 81.95 -0.59 -0.7% 81.85 82.70 39,351 151,357 CLc2 82.75 -0.49 -0.6% 82.60 83.39 12,958 470,435 LCOc1 83.32 -0.28 -0.3% 83.00 83.88 51,370 212,200 RBc1 2.0760 -0.0066 -0.3% 2.0724 2.0906 639 48,183 RBc2 2.0638 -0.0091 -0.4% 2.0600 2.0784 1,708 53,341 HOc1 2.2441 -0.0107 -0.5% 2.2405 2.257 1,720 47,800 HOc2 2.2628 -0.0101 -0.4% 2.2585 2.2765 3,715 47,166 * NYMEX crude oil for December CLc1 fell 59 cents to $81.95 a barrel by 8:19 a.m. in volume of 39,355 lots. (Reporting by Robert Gibbons; Editing by John Picinich)

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