1st LD Writethru: U.S. oil price gains on upbeat job data
Xinhua, May 9, 2015 Adjust font size:
U.S. oil price rose Friday as job data of the country came out better than expected.
Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 223,000 in April, and the unemployment rate was essentially unchanged at 5.4 percent, the U.S. Labor Department announced Friday.
Job gains occurred in professional and business service, health care, and construction. Mining employment continued to decline.
In April, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 3 cents to 24.87 U.S. dollars. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have increased by 2.2 percent.
Traders said April's jobs report showed an uptick in the economy of U.S., the top oil consumer of the world.
Meanwhile, as sinking oil prices forced more U.S. shale oil producers to slow down the output, U.S. rig count continued to drop this week.
The number of U.S. rigs actively drilling for oil and natural gas of the week ended May 8, fell 11 rigs to 894, said oil service company Baker Hughes Friday.
Light, sweet crude for June delivery gained 45 cents to settle at 59.39 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In London, Brent North Sea crude for June delivery, the global benchmark, moved down 15 cents to close at 65.39 dollars a barrel. Endite