Crude oil futures rose in recent trading sessions in the international market led by optimistic unemployment data from the US.
According to data released by the US Labor Department, unemployment in the country declined to 7.5 percent in April 2012 from 7.6 percent in the previous month. This is said to be the lowest unemployment rate since the end of 2008.
Private employers added 176,000 people to their payrolls even as the public sector shed an additional 11,000 workers.
Light, sweet crude for June delivery jumped 2.96 dollars, or 3. 25 percent to $93.99 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange recently. Brent for June delivery rose $2.9 or 2.9 percent, to $102.85 a barrel.
Expansionary monetary policies from the world’s major central banks also supported crude oil prices.
Europe Central Bank (ECB) lowered its main rate by a quarter percentage point to a record low of 0.5 percent recently, its first cut in ten months. The cut was widely expected by markets.
Meanwhile, the US Federal Reserve shifted its previous dovish tone to a more neutral one, saying it is prepared to increase or reduce the pace of its purchases to maintain appropriate policy accommodation as the outlook for the labor market or inflation changes.
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