Oil Futures Little Changed After US Jobs Report

Solid employment numbers in the U.S. gave a boost to oil Friday, though only a small one.

Benchmark U.S. oil for July delivery rose 18 cents to close at $102.66 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil traded in a narrow range all week and ended with a decline of 15 cents.

Brent crude, a benchmark for international oils, slid 18 cents to $108.61 a barrel.

The U.S. Labor Department said employers added 217,000 jobs to their payrolls in May, in the range of what economists were expecting. The unemployment rate stayed put at 6.3 percent.

Heading into the weekend, U.S. drivers were paying an average of $3.66 a gallon at the gas pump, down 1 cent from a month ago, but 3 cents higher that at the same time last year.

In other energy futures trading on Nymex:

– Wholesale gasoline fell 2 cents to $2.94 a gallon.

– Natural gas rose 1 cent to $4.71 per 1,000 cubic feet.

– Heating oil dipped 1 cent to $2.87 a gallon.