NEW YORK: Crude futures fell alongside stocks on Wall Street as the oil market awaited a weekly reading on the US oil rig count, after jobs data from the world’s No. 1 economy failed to provide much direction.

The August US jobs report showed fewer new jobs created last month than forecast in a Reuters poll.

But it also showed the unemployment rate was at its lowest in more than seven years.

The jobs report raised prospects for the US Federal Reserve to raise interest rates sooner rather than later, analysts said. While that would be positive for the dollar, any rise in the currency also tends to weigh on commodities, including oil.

“There’s a sell off in both energy and equity futures,” noted David Thompson, executive vice president at Powerhouse, an energy-specialized commodities broker in Washington.

The oil market shadowed Wall Street through most of this week, rising and falling in tandem with stock prices.

The key S&P 500 indicator for US stocks was down 1.3 percent by 10:20 a.m. EDT (1420 GMT).

The front-month contract in Brent crude, the global benchmark for oil, was down 45 cents, or nearly 1 percent, at $50.23 a barrel.

US crude’s front-month slid 40 cents, or also about 1 percent, to $46.35.

Oil services firm Baker Hughes was due to issue its weekly reading on the US oil rig count. The rig count has risen for six consecutive weeks so far.

A drop in the reading indicates less drilling for oil in the future, and would alleviate the weak price outlook from an oversupplied crude market.