Oil prices dip on report of rising jobless claims

NEW YORK -- Oil prices fell Thursday after the government reported that jobs remain in short supply in the U.S.

The Labor Department said the number of first-time unemployment claims rose unexpectedly for the second straight week. Less people heading off to work means the country will be consuming less gasoline.

Benchmark crude for October delivery gave up 47 cents to $73.36 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The September contract, which ends Thursday, added 14 cents to $72.56.

Oil traders have been looking for signs of economic recovery, expecting that global energy consumption would follow. Crude prices spiked Wednesday when government data showed a heavy drawdown in U.S. oil supplies, in part because refiners were importing less.

But the jobless numbers showed that energy consumption may remain subdued for some time.

The Energy Information Administration also reported Thursday that the U.S.'s stockpile of natural gas continues to grow, expanding last week to 19.1 percent above the five-year average. U.S. storage facilities have been bloated for months with large amounts of unused natural gas because major industrial customers have cut back severely on energy use.

In other Nymex trading, gasoline for September delivery fell 1.06 cents to $2.024 a gallon, and heating oil for September delivery gave up 1.27 cents to $1.906 a gallon. Natural gas for September delivery lost 5.4 cents to fetch $3.065 per 1,000 cubic feet.

In London, Brent prices fell 68 cents to $73.91 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.