By Moming Zhou May 7 (Bloomberg) -- Natural gas futures rose for the first time in three days on speculation a recovering U.S. economy will boost demand for the industrial and power-plant fuel. Employment in the U.S. increased in April by the most in four years, the Labor Department reported today. U.S. gas stockpiles gained more than expected in the week ended April 30, the Energy Department said yesterday. “The jobs number was positive and constructive to the gas market,” said Tom Orr, director of research at Weeden & Co., a brokerage in Greenwich, Connecticut. Still, “we are a little higher on storage.” Natural gas for June delivery rose 5.2 cents, or 1.3 percent, to $3.981 per million British thermal units at 9:22 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The futures have declined 29 percent this year. “The economic numbers are creating some sort of basis for a sustainable recovery,” said Peter Beutel, president of trading adviser Cameron Hanover Inc. in New Canaan, Connecticut. “The market has had an amazing test this week, and yet it has remained above $3.81, that’s a sign that the market is still trying to build a bottom here.” Gas touched $3.855 yesterday after the inventories data, the lowest intraday price since touching $3.81 on April 1. Supply Report Gas storage levels increased 83 billion cubic feet in the week ended April 30 to 1.995 trillion cubic feet, the Energy Department said yesterday. Analysts predicted a gain of 80 billion. Supplies were 19 percent higher than the five-year average. “The inventory balance remains loose without a short-term supply or demand catalyst to bring the two closer in sync,” James R. Crandell, an analyst at Barclays Capital in New York, said today in a note to clients. Inventories reached a record 3.837 trillion cubic feet last November on increased supplies and lower consumption caused by the recession. Stockpiles typically increase from April to November to assure adequate supplies for during the peak-demand cold-weather months. --Editors: Bill Banker, Charlotte Porter To contact the reporter on this story: Moming Zhou in New York at Mzhou29@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dan Stets at dstets@bloomberg.net

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