Oil skids to near $76 ahead of US jobs report

[December 04, 2009]  SINGAPORE (AP) -- Oil prices slipped to near $76 a barrel Friday in Asia ahead of U.S. unemployment figures that will provide an important guide to the strength of the economic recovery and demand for crude.

Benchmark crude for January delivery was down 42 cents to $76.05 at late afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract gave up 14 cents to settle at $76.46 on Thursday.

The Labor Department announces later Friday the November unemployment rate and how many jobs the U.S. economy lost last month. The jobless rate rose to 10.2 percent in October, a 26-year high.

The much awaited employment report will likely determine if oil finishes the week with a sell-off, Galena, Illinois-based Ritterbusch and Associates said in a report. "A bearish surprise within the jobless data could easily trigger a run at the $75 level."

Crude prices have hung in the upper $70s for most of the last two months as investors wait for more evidence about how strong the U.S. economic recovery will be. In recent months, demand for oil and products such as gasoline has remained weak.

In other Nymex trading in January contracts, heating oil rose 0.63 cent to $2.04 and gasoline gained 0.33 cent to $1.99. Natural gas increased 1.5 cents to $4.47 per 1,000 cubic feet.

In London, Brent crude for January delivery fell 25 cents to $78.11 on the ICE Futures exchange.

[Associated Press; By ALEX KENNEDY]

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