Jobs data sends crude oil prices lower

Crude oil prices declined Friday after the US Labor Department issued a new report on jobs which showed that 263,000 positions were lost in the United States in September, significantly more than had been expected, sending the unemployment rate in the US to 9.8 percent, its highest level in more than two and a half decades.

With 15.1 million people now out of work in the US, according to the latest figures, concerns about demand for oil and oil products were reinforced.

November contracts for West Texas Intermediate crude was down $1.11 to $69.71 per barrel just before the close of trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while at last report Brent crude was $1.41 lower to $67.78 per barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange in London.

Nymex November gasoline dropped 2 cents to $1.74 per gallon in afternoon trade, while November heating oil was down 3 cents to $1.80 per gallon.

Despite a report yesterday that natural gas in storage in the United States is at a record high, November natural gas added 18 cents to $4.65 per million British thermal units.