Investing.com - U.S. oil futures gained ground on Monday, as lower expectations for a rate hike this year by the Federal Reserve sent the U.S. dollar broadly lower.
U.S. crude futures for November delivery were last at $46.06 a barrel, up 1.15% for the day.
On the ICE Futures Exchange in London, the November Brent contract were up 1.29% at $48.74 a barrel.
The Labor Department reported on Friday that the U.S. economy added just 142,000 jobs last month, well below expectations of the 203,000 expected by economists.
August’s reading was revised down to 135,000, from the initial reported figure of 173,000.
Average hourly earnings were flat month-on-month and the labor force participation rate fell to just 62.4%, down from 62.6% in August. The unemployment rate was unchanged at 5.1%, in line with forecasts.
The report underlined fears that a slowdown in global economic growth has spread to the U.S. economy and prompted investors to push back expectations on the timing of an initial rate hike by the Fed to early 2016.
A report last week showing a fifth weekly fall in the number of oil rigs drilling in the U.S. also supported oil prices.
