- NEW YORK: Oil prices rose after the government reported that the US economy added more jobs last month, which could drive up demand for fuel with more people heading back to work.
Benchmark crude rose by 76 cents to $97.12 per barrel in morning trading in New York.
Brent crude rose by $1.54 to $113.61 per barrel in London.
Prices jumped after the Labor Department reported that the US economy added 243,000 jobs in January.
That was an unexpectedly big increase for the first month of the year and the unemployment rate fell to 8.3 percent.
The government says companies hired across the pay scale, from high-salary professional services to manufacturing.
Oil has slid from above $100 a barrel last week amid investor concern that rising US crude inventories reflect waning demand.
In other energy trading, heating oil added 3.96 cents to $3.0925 per gallon.
Natural gas fell by 6.4 cents to $2.49 per 1,000 cubic feet. Gasoline futures increased by 3.04 cents to $2.8993 per gallon.