By Nick Godt, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Crude-oil futures fell from a two-year high Friday after the U.S. Labor Department reported a much smaller-than- expected rise in payrolls, rekindling worries about growth and energy demand.
Crude oil for January delivery (CLF11 87.85, -0.15, -0.17%) was off 63 cents, or 0.7%, to $87.33 a barrel after trading as high as $88.36 earlier. It had been up slightly ahead of the report.
Nonfarm payrolls rose by 39,000 in November, far lower than the 155,000 gain expected by economists surveyed by MarketWatch and the upwardly revised figure of 172,000 jobs gained in October. Read more on jobs report.
The unemployment rate unexpectedly rose to 9.8% in November from 9.6% in October according to a separate survey of 60,000 households. Economists had been expecting the unemployment rate to remain steady. Read more on the jobs report.
The dollar extended its losses after the report. The dollar index (DXY 79.50, -0.80, -0.10%) fell to 79.467, off about 0.9% from 80.21 late Thursday and 80.059 before the data.
On Thursday, crude closed at a two-year high, tracking broad relief over European sovereign debt in the broad market.
