By Chris Baldwin LONDON (Reuters) - Oil climbed back above $80 a barrel on Friday, in line with gains across financial markets as dealers anticipated the latest batch of data, expected to show a slow-down in unemployment in the world's biggest economy. U.S. crude for December delivery rose 45 cents to $80.07 a barrel by 5:25 a.m. EST, after shedding 78 cents to settle at $79.62 on Thursday. London Brent crude rose 55 cents to $78.54. Government figures for release at 8:30 a.m. EST were expected to show employers in October had cut payrolls by the smallest amount in 14 months, although the jobless rate likely rose to a 26-year high of 9.9 percent, according to a Reuters survey. The labor market in the world's thirstiest oil consumer will be closely watched as analysts gauge the durability of a government stimulus-driven recovery that began in the third quarter and probably ended the worst U.S. recession since the 1930s. A higher-than-expected jobless rate or a bigger loss of jobs than forecast could rattle investors on Wall Street, and send them fleeing into the safer havens of U.S. government bonds and the U.S. dollar and away from riskier assets like oil. "In the worst case, today's figures will unveil that unemployment has risen to levels above the symbolic threshold of 10 percent," analysts at JBC Energy wrote. "A one percentage point increase in the U.S. employment rate will reduce gasoline demand over the coming year by about 0.75 percentage points, or around 70,000 (barrels per day)," JBC said, pointing to its own estimates. Oil prices have risen from a low of less than $33 a barrel last December to a high for this year of $82 in October. They are on course to gain nearly 4 percent this week, but market sentiment is still cautious following inventory data that has shown oil stocks are very high. Stores of distillates, which include heating oil and diesel are near their highest levels in 26 years.

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