NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Crude futures added to early losses Thursday after new U.S. jobless claims unexpectedly rose, raising fresh doubts about the strength of the economic recovery. Light, sweet crude for April delivery recently traded $1.41, or 1.8%, lower at $78.59 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange traded $1.38, or 1.8%, lower at $76.71 a barrel. The U.S. Labor Department reported an increase of 22,000 in initial jobless claims, to 496,000 in the week ended Feb. 20, the highest since November. Economists had given an average forecast for a decline of 13,000. Investors were already nervous about the strength of the economic recovery after consumer confidence and new home sales data disappointed earlier in the week. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke had managed to inject some confidence back into Wednesday's trading after telling a U.S. House committee that interest rates would be kept near zero for an "extended period" to boost growth. Oil prices settled Wednesday at $80 a barrel, rising 1.4%. But crude futures are now below Tuesday's close, and fading. High unemployment is especially damaging to demand for crude, as rising joblessness removes commuters from the road. Traders are also looking ahead to peak summer gasoline demand, which could take a hit if fewer U.S. drivers have disposable income to spend on gasoline. "The pace of the economic recovery... is being called into question," said Gene McGillian, an analyst with Tradition Energy in Stamford, Conn. "Some of the things in the previous week that drove us to $80 maybe aren't looking as strong as people thought." Front-month March reformulated gasoline blendstock, or RBOB, recently traded 4.62 cents, or 2.2%, lower at $2.0527 a gallon. March heating oil traded 3.26 cents, or 1.6%, lower at $2.0095 a gallon. Crude futures are under additional selling pressure from the return of concerns about European economies after credit agencies said that Greece risked having its debt rated near junk bond status. Oil prices fell to around $70 toward the start of the month amid fears that Greece and other deficit-heavy economies would drag down growth throughout the euro zone. With Greek debt back on investors' radars, markets tied to the economic recovery, including most commodities and equities, sold off, while assets seen as more stable, including the dollar, strengthened. The dollar was recently at $1.3484 to the euro, from $1.3548 earlier. A stronger dollar can hit oil prices hard, as futures become more expensive to purchase for holders of other currencies.

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