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Oil falls below US$81 after US jobs report

OIL prices fell below US$81 a barrel yesterday after a government jobs report prompted new concerns about US economic growth.

The Labor Department said 131,000 jobs were cut in July, though that was primarily tied to layoffs of temporary census workers. Economists polled by Thomson Reuters had forecast 65,000 jobs would be cut last month.

Benchmark crude for September delivery fell US$1.31 to settle at US$80.70 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

"Oil prices may be subject to push-pull in investment sentiment - support from some as a hedge against inflation and pressure from remaining concerns over the prospects of slow economic growth," said an energy report from Sucden Financial in London.

In other Nymex trading in September contracts, heating oil fell 3.96 cents to settle at US$2.1472 a gallon, gasoline lost 5.17 cents to US$2.1127 a gallon and natural gas dropped 13.1 cents to US$4.467 per 1,000 cubic feet.

In London, Brent crude was down US$1.45 to US$80.16 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.



 

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