Oil prices continued to surge Friday as US employment gained more than forecast.
Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 175,000 in May, beating the 163,000 forecast of economists. Nonfarm payroll employment in April was revised down to 149,000 from 165,000, the US Labor Department said.
Traders speculated that demand for fuel will climb after US employment gained more than forecast.
US unemployment rate in May increased slightly, from 7.5 percent in April to 7.6 percent in May. Economists believed that the increase is a good sign, because more Americans began looking for work.
The unemployment rate was essentially unchanged in May, easing investors' fears that the US Federal Reserve may start tapering its stimulus soon.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said late last month in a testimony to Congress that the central bank would scale back its massive asset purchases in the next few policy meetings if the jobs market shows consistent improvement.
The weekly inventory data released Wednesday also underpinned the oil prices. US crude supplies fell 6.3 million barrels to 391.3 million last week. It was the biggest decline in crude stockpiles since Dec. 28, far more than the market projection of an 800,000-barrel drop.
Light, sweet crude for July delivery gained 1.27 dollars, or 1. 34 percent to settle at 96.03 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Brent for July delivery went up 95 cents, or 0.92 percent to close at 10456 dollars a barrel.
