By Grant Smith Aug. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil rose to its highest in five weeks after a report showed the unemployment rate dropped for the first time in more than a year. Oil recouped earlier losses as the Labor Department said the jobless rate dropped to 9.4 percent last month from 9.5 percent, the first reduction since April 2008. U.S. payrolls fell by 247,000 compared with a drop of 325,000 forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists. “It only means the momentum in job losses has slowed,” said Harry Tchilinguirian, senior oil market analyst at BNP Paribas SA in London. “Without a recovery in final demand, the recent rebound will run out of steam. Strong surges in consumption are not going to happen at these levels of unemployment.” Crude oil for September delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange advanced as much as 90 cents, or 1.3 percent, to $72.84 a barrel in electronic trading, the highest since June 30. It then gave up the gains to trade at $71.75 as of 1:50 p.m. London time. To contact the reporters on this story: Grant Smith in London at gsmith52@bloomberg.net

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