Brent falls after disappointing US jobs report, weaker dollar pares losses

London (Quantum Commodity Intelligence)- Brent was under renewed pressure Friday after the US economy added just 266,000 new jobs in April, according to the US Department of Labor, far below analyst expectations of adding almost a million jobs.

The unemployment rate nudged higher to 6.1%, from 6% in March.

March's Non Farm Payroll report was also revised down to show 770,000 new jobs were created in the US in March, down from the 916,000 estimated a month ago.

July Brent was trading at $68.23/b at 17.37 UK time, twenty minutes after the report was released, and down from $68.57/b at 16.30 on Thursday.

The contract had hit $67.41/b earlier, but as the dollar index fell, crude rose.

The crude future has softened since Wednesday's US Energy Information Administration report that showed a huge crude stocks draw, but also a small build in gasoline stocks and an overall build in products stocks to dampen enthusiasm about the US recovery in oil demand.

On the global front, continued concerns about demand in India and Japan, as well as the build in products kept crude from breacking $70/b.