MW: Oil prices rally above $72/brl after jobs data
By Polya Lesova
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Crude futures rallied on Friday, reversing their early decline after the government reported that job losses slowed in July to the lowest total since August as the unemployment rate unexpectedly fell back to 9.4%. U.S. nonfarm payrolls fell by 247,000 in July, the 19th consecutive month of job losses, about in line with economists' estimates of a 275,000 decline. Crude oil for September delivery was last up 72 cents to $72.68 a barrel in electronic trading on Globex. Before the data, the contract traded near $71.28 a barrel.
