With unemployment at a 26-year high of 9.8 percent, employers trumped expectations, cutting a whopping 263,000 jobs in September. Labor Department figures show a loss of 7.2 million jobs since December 2007, bringing the total number of unemployed Americans to an astounding 15.1 million.

Oil prices fell October 2 in response to a flagging job market, confirming suspicions about overall U.S. economic health and future demand for crude oil. NYMEX saw crude dip to a morning-low of $68.32, with November delivery down $1.14 a barrel. The London, ICE Futures exchange, saw Brent crude prices also down $1.41 to $67.78.

Elsewhere on the NYMEX, heating oil fell 3.77 cents to $1.7897, with November delivery of gasoline down 2.87 cents to $1.7292. After an 8% decline in natural gas Thursday, in response to the news that U.S. stockpiles reached a record high, natural gas showed gains of 17.43 cents at $4.640 per 1,000

...

Oil prices fell nearly 4 percent to below $70 a barrel on Monday as fear of a curb in Chinese bank lending dented optimism about the pace of economic recovery and a potential rebound in global energy demand.

U.S. crude for October delivery settled down $2.78, or 3.8 percent, at $69.96 a barrel, having fallen as low as $69.13 in intraday trade. In London, Brent crude settled down $3.14 at $69.65 a barrel.

China’s key stock index dived 6.74 percent on Monday to a three-month low, prompted by concern that China’s government is trying to moderate economic growth and choke off some speculation in its stock market by tightening bank lending.

European equities closed lower and U.S. stocks fell after China’s index fall.

“The oil markets have been strongly affected by what’s going on in China, where the fear is that authorities will rein in on lending and in the process curtail growth,” said Phil Flynn,

...

In the weekly report that always seems to move prices 5% one way or the other, the natural gas supply report showed a higher than expected supply in natural gas. a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087amp;sid=aJ._taTKDeSE"Here's the story from Bloomberg/a:br /br /blockquoteNatural gas futures fell the most in two months after a government report showed a bigger-than- estimated increase in U.S. stockpiles. Supplies in storage gained 66 billion cubic feet in the week ended July 31 to 3.089 trillion cubic feet, the a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=DOENUSCH%3AIND" t_delay="50" t_width="110" t_bgcolor="#ddedd9" t_fontface="Verdana,sans-serif" t_fontcolor="#000000" t_static="true" t_above="true"Energy Department/a said. Analysts forecast a gain of 61 billion. The total was a record for late July, based on weekly department data going back to 1994.br /br /“We have a lot of supply and it really weighs on the market,” said a href="http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Phil+Flynnamp;site=wnewsamp;client=wnewsamp;proxystylesheet=wnewsamp;output=xml_no_dtdamp;ie=UTF-8amp;oe=UTF-8amp;filter=pamp;getfields=wnnisamp;sort=date:D:S:d1" t_delay="50" t_width="110" t_bgcolor="#ddedd9" t_fontface="Verdana,sans-serif" t_fontcolor="#000000" t_static="true" t_above="true"Phil Flynn/a, vicebr /president of research at PFG Best in Chicago. “The dollar ...

Oil has taken Wall Street on a roller coaster ride in the past week. The ride started with oil rising towards $72 ahead of inventory data and then falling below $71 after inventory data.

Oil fell toward $70 a barrel on Wednesday morning amidst U.S. government inventory data showing a build in crude stocks and weak economic data that raised concerns and doubts about oil demand recovery in the world’s largest energy consumer.

As example of these doubts was shown in U.S. light, sweet crude which fell 81 cents to $70.61 a barrel early in the day giving away some of the gains that helped oil rise 13 percent since last week.

U.S. crude inventories had a sharp rise last week which surprised many experts on Wall Street. According to weekly data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), which was released on Wednesday, refinery runs eased while distillate stocks

...

In the energy market, crude oil for September delivery rose 89 cents from Thursday to close at $68.05/barrel. August reformulated gasoline rose a quarter of a cent to finish at $1.9159/gallon. Despite continued worries that oil’s recent run-up can’t be justified by market fundamentals, crude continued to climb Friday on the back of a weaker dollar and stubbornly resilient equities.

“The debate between whether the market should focus on green shoots or current weak demand and over supply goes on,” said Phil Flynn, vice president at futures trading and research firm PFG BEST Research.

“The green shooters have had the upper hand this week, but the real test will be next week,” Flynn added.

“Although we cannot discount further gains, we are somewhat wary about jumping in on the long side at this late stage,” said Edward Meir, analyst at MF Global.

“The stock market advance, in particular, looks somewhat overextended,” Meir

...

In the energy market, crude oil for September delivery shot up $1.76 from Wednesday to close at $67.16/barrel. August reformulated gasoline rose 7.49 cents to finish at $1.9132/gallon. Crude closed at its highest level since June 1 yesterday, apparently feeding off the NAR’s U.S. home sales data and better-than-expected reported company earnings.

“Home sales blew the market away,” said Phil Flynn, vice president at futures trading and research firm PFG BEST Research. “Oil wants to go lower but the surge in stocks pushed it up.”

“Demand is still weak and supplies still high yet the market keeps driving us higher,” he added.

Crude has risen in six of the recent seven sessions. The rally came even after petroleum data continued to show weak demand and rising inventories.

Total inventories of crude, gasoline and other petroleum products in the U.S. rose 1.9 million barrels in the week ended July 17, up for a sixth

...

In the energy market, crude oil for August delivery climbed $1.51 from Thursday to close at $63.56/barrel. August reformulated gasoline rose more than five-and-a-half cents to finish at $1.7699/gallon. Crude got a boost from the housing data mentioned above, as the news raised hopes for an economic recovery.

Also pushing oil higher (according to MarketWatch), some traders who had been shorting, or selling without owning, the front-month contract have to buy it back to cover their positions before the contract expires Tuesday.

“Trading is like wind, and any economic headline that comes along can change the direction,” said Phil Flynn, vice president at futures trading and research firm PFGBest Research. “It seems traders want to cover shorts ahead of the weekend.”

The 6.1% gain oil posted this week came after a 10.3% fall last week. For the month, oil is still down 9.1%.

Meanwhile, China, the second-biggest energy consumer after the U.S., processed

...

In the energy market, crude oil for August delivery rose 27 cents from Wednesday to close at $60.41/barrel. August reformulated gasoline gained more than 3 cents to finish at $1.6638/gallon.

As evidence of how screwed up things are out there, crude apparently got a boost from the Labor Department’s report mentioned above. So more than half a million new people filing for unemployment in a week is good news?

“The jobs data and the dollar are helping oil today,” said Phil Flynn, vice president at futures trading and research firm PFG BEST Research. “But weak demand concerns are rising.”

Meanwhile, crude inventories at Cushing, Okla. – the delivery point for crude futures traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange – jumped to 30.2 million barrels last week, up 5.6% and adding pressure to futures prices.

Also on the energy front, U.S. natural gas inventories rose 75 billion cubic feet in the week ended

...

In the energy market on Monday, crude for August delivery fell sharply, closing at $64.05/barrel, down $2.68 from Thursday. August reformulated gasoline lost 5.04 cents, to $1.7404/gallon. Oil fell off in the first post-holiday session following three straight weekly losses. “The market is pricing in another wave of weak demand and some seasonal factors,” said Phil Flynn, of PFG BEST Research. “Still the dollar seems to be the key today.”

The jobs report “is confirming what we saw earlier in the week with the dropping consumer confidence,” said Phil Flynn, of PFG BEST Research. “This reinforces the outlook for weak petroleum demand and should put downward pressure crude prices.”

Analysts also cited Vice-President Biden’s comments during a Sunday TV interview. The administration “misread how bad the economy was” when the stimulus package was being designed, Biden said.

Looking forward, “The normal summertime lull in trading may put some pressure and profit-taking

...

In the energy market on Wednesday, crude for August delivery fell again, closing at $66.73/barrel, down $2.58. August reformulated gasoline lost 6.82 cents, to $1.7908/gallon. Oil posted its third straight weekly loss as the lousy economic numbers piling up have driven much of the recovery optimism from the field.

The jobs report “is confirming what we saw earlier in the week with the dropping consumer confidence,” said Phil Flynn, of PFG BEST Research. “This reinforces the outlook for weak petroleum demand and should put downward pressure crude prices.”

Flynn added that, “On the fundamentals level, high levels of inventories, low demand and sufficient supply continue to point to lower prices.”

The only bright note was sounded by the Commerce Department, which reported orders for U.S.-made factory goods rose by the biggest amount in close to a year in May, climbing 1.2% on a big jump in orders for transportation equipment.

In the

...