Oil Barely Changed Ahead of Monthly US Jobs Report

The price of oil barely budged for a fourth straight day, as traders await the latest report from the U.S. government on the state of the jobs market.

Benchmark U.S. oil for July delivery fell 16 cents to $102.48 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. For the week, oil is down 33 cents.

Brent crude, a benchmark for international oils, rose 39 cents to $108.79 a barrel.

The U.S. government’s monthly jobs report is due out Friday. Economists estimate that U.S. employers added 220,000 jobs in May and that the unemployment rate inched up to 6.4 percent from 6.3 percent as more people hunt for work.

At the gas pump, the price of a gallon averaged $3.66. That up 1 cent from a week ago and up 4 cents from this time last year.

In other energy futures trading on Nymex:

– Wholesale gasoline rose 2 cents to $2.96 a gallon.

– Natural gas rose 6 cents to $4.70 per 1,000 cubic feet.

– Heating oil added 3 cents to $2.88 a gallon.

This article appeared in print in the June 6th, 2014 edition of Hamodia.