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 Benchmark U.S. crude for November delivery dropped $1.42. or 1.4 percent, to close at $97.80 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. That's the lowest close since June 28.
The November contract expires Tuesday. The more heavily traded December contract fell $1.38 to $98.30 a barrel.
The U.S. government said the economy added 148,000 jobs in September, a number that suggests employers held back on hiring before a 16-day partial government shutdown began Oct. 1. It wasn't a number that signaled an increased need for gasoline for the daily commute.
The jobs data came a day after the Energy Department reported a jump in U.S. crude supplies. The government said Monday that U.S. crude supplies rose by 4 million barrels in the week ended Oct. 11. The report was delayed five days due to the government shutdown.
Analysts at The Schork Report estimated that U.S. commercial crude oil stocks are at the third highest level for October since 1930 and 13 percent above the normal range over the previous decade.
Expectations are that supplies rose by another 3 million barrels last week. The Energy Department reports that figure on Wednesday.
At the gas pump, the average price for a gallon of gas nationwide fell to $3.34. That's 14 cents cheaper than a month ago and 33 cents less than at this time last year.
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