Oil Rises After U.S. Unemployment Rate Unexpectedly Declines
February 05, 2010, 3:33 PM ESTBy Mark Shenk
Feb. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil rose after the U.S. unemployment rate unexpectedly declined, signaling that the economic rebound of the world’s biggest energy-consuming country may accelerate.
“The market is obviously taking its cue from the better- than-expected payroll number,” said Phil Flynn, vice president of research at PFGBest in Chicago. “The oil market is being driven by the perception of how strong the economic recovery will be. It the unemployment rate is falling there is a greater chance that demand will pick up.”
Crude oil for March delivery rose 31 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $73.45 a barrel at 9:03 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Yesterday, futures declined $3.84, or 5 percent, to $73.14 a barrel, the biggest drop since July 29.
Brent oil for March settlement fell 4 cents to $72.09 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange.
--Editor: Dan Stets
To contact the reporter on this story: Mark Shenk in New York at mshenk1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dan Stets at dstets@bloomberg.net
