Labor Department figures showed that payrolls shrank by 159,000, more than the 100,000 economists predicted. The nation's unemployment rate remained flat at 6.1 percent, as expected.
And few believed that the unprecedented bailout package, passed early in the afternoon, would rekindle the global appetite for energy any time soon.
"I don't think it will be capable of putting a floor under oil prices," said Jim Ritterbusch, president of energy consultancy Ritterbusch and Associates.
Light, sweet crude for November delivery fell 9 cents to settle at $93.88 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
On Thursday, prices closed at their lowest level in two weeks, tumbling below $94 a barrel on doubts that a revamped bailout plan will be enough to avoid a protracted economic slump. Settling at $93.97 a barrel, the price was the lowest since Sept. 16.
Ritterbusch noted demand deterioration is not only intact, "it's been accentuated by this financial rescue effort and the subprime loan issues."
November Brent crude fell 31 cents to settle at $90.25 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.
The U.S. Senate overwhelmingly approved a sweetened bailout plan Wednesday after House lawmakers stunned investors earlier in the week by rejecting it.
The Senate added $100 billion in tax breaks and more in bid to win over enough dissenting House votes.
"Approving the bailout may create a little bounce and alleviate the negative sentiment temporarily," said John Vautrain, an energy analyst with consultancy Purvin & Gertz in Singapore. "The problem is U.S. gasoline demand has been off one heck of a lot."
Statistics from the U.S. Labor Department released Thursday showed more signs of a weakening economy, adding to concerns about falling demand.
In a sign of how far consumers are pulling back, retail gasoline prices fell for the 11th week in the last three months. There was a brief pause in price declines because of hurricanes Gustav and Ike, which disrupted supplies in the Gulf of Mexico.
