By Brian Baskin Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Crude futures rose Wednesday after ADP reported fewer-than-expected job losses in February, shoring up investor confidence in the economic recovery. Light, sweet crude for April delivery recently traded 58 cents, or 0.7%, higher at $80.26 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange traded 52 cents higher at $78.70 a barrel. Futures began to edge higher after Automatic Data Processing reported 20,000 private-sector jobs lost in February, less than the 50,000 expected in a Dow Jones survey. The payroll company's figures are the first of several major jobs reports due this week, including the official February non-farm payrolls data from the U.S. Labor Department on Friday. U.S. unemployment is one of the most closely watched economic indicators among investors, and oil was one of several markets to rise after the ADP report. Commodities and equities have often moved similarly on the strength of the world economy, and U.S. stock futures were paring losses while oil was crossing above $80 a barrel following the jobs data. "The (oil) market is keeping its mind on things that are supportive to rising prices," said Gene McGillian, an analyst with Tradition Energy in Stamford, Conn. "It's only when we get something that can't be spun as supportive and positive that we get what we saw last week, a $2 to $3 selloff." The oil market could break away from equities later Wednesday with the release of U.S. crude and fuel inventory data from the Energy Information Administration. Supplies have come off this year from the massive overhang built up when demand was at its weakest during the recession, helping to support crude futures around $80 a barrel. Further tightening is widely seen as a must for oil prices to keep rising, but analysts are expecting little evidence of that in this week's data. Analysts gave an average forecast for an increase in oil inventories of 1 million barrels, according to a Dow Jones survey. Gasoline stockpiles are expected to rise 700,000 barrels, while distillate inventories, including heating oil and diesel, are seen falling 700,000 barrels. The American Petroleum Institute, an industry group, reported a 2.7-million-barrel increase in oil inventories on Tuesday, while reporting a 900,000-barrel addition to gasoline stocks and a 4.1-million-barrel drop in distillate inventories. "We see little possibility for a sustained price level above $80 per barrel given the current uncertain economic outlook and weak fundamentals," wrote analysts with JBC Energy in Vienna. Front-month April reformulated gasoline blendstock, or RBOB, recently traded 1.24 cents, or 0.6%, higher at $2.2090 a gallon. April heating oil traded 2.04 cents, or 1%, higher at $2.0765 a gallon. -By Brian Baskin, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2453; brian.baskin@dowjones.com.

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