U.S. unemployment rate declines to 7.8% in September from 8.1%
By Claudia Assis, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Oil futures went deeper into the red Friday as a boost from the U.S. jobs report waned.
Oil for November delivery CLX2 -1.73% fell $1.54, or 1.7%, to $90.16 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Prices traded as low as $90.01 a barrel.
The contract traded near $90.59 a barrel before the release of the jobs data, and rallied up to unchanged before sinking.
The Labor Department said the economy created 114,000 nonfarm jobs in September, which was marginally better than economists polled by MarketWatch had expected. See: jobless rate falls to lowest since 2009.
The big surprise was that the unemployment rate — which is drawn from a separate survey of households — fell to 7.8%, the lowest level since January 2009, from 8.1% in August.
Job growth for July and August saw big upward revisions, pointing to a gradually improving labor market. Good economic news is positive for oil prices, as it spurs thinking of rising demand for oil.
Oil prices had shot up 4.1% in Thursday’s regular session as a weaker dollar and concerns about supply from the Middle East aided in crude’s rebound from a sharp drop in the previous session. See: Oil tops $91 as Syria conflict feeds supply fears.
While there are many factors that will influence oil prices in the months ahead, most of them point to the likelihood of prices falling to levels closer to $80 a barrel — or at least not making any sort of lasting impression at $100 in the fourth quarter. See: Oil has a better chance at $80 than $100
In other energy trading on Friday, November gasoline futures RBX2 -0.20% rose less than 1 cent to $2.94 a gallon, while November heating oil HOX2 -1.19% slipped 3 cents, or 1.1%, to $3.16 a gallon.
Natural-gas futures for November delivery NGX12 -0.88% declined 2 cents, or 0.7%, to $3.38 per million British thermal units.
Claudia Assis is a San Francisco-based reporter for MarketWatch.
