RTRS:Brent treads at $114; awaits U.S. jobs data, storms
* U.S. manufacturing grew in August; jobless claims fall
* Part of oil, gas production shut in GoM ahead of storm
* Coming Up: U.S. non-farm payrolls; 1230 GMT (Updates prices)
By Florence Tan
SINGAPORE, Sept 2 (Reuters) - Brent crude hovered at $114 a barrel on Friday, on track for its second consecutive weekly gain, as investors eyed key U.S. jobs data for clues on whether the world's largest oil consumer will be able to dodge a recession and leave demand growth intact.
Weak data may prompt the Federal Reserve to start a fresh round of policy easing at a Sept. 20 meeting. Investors were also watching for potential supply disruption in the Gulf of Mexico as a brewing storm shut nearly 6 percent of output in the key producing region.
Front-month Brent LCOc1 fell 16 cents to $114.13 a barrel by 0501 GMT. It was on track for a weekly gain of more than 2 percent. U.S. crude CLc1 was down 16 cents to $88.77 a barrel, but was set for a nearly 4 percent rise this week, its biggest gain since early July.
"The market is still expecting some concrete steps from the Fed to boost the economy," said Yusuke Seta, a commodity sales manager at Newedge Japan, adding that these hopes were helping to support oil prices.
But if the jobs data is weaker than expected, equity markets could fall and oil may follow, he said.