WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Crude oil futures were lower Friday morning, slipping below $49 a barrel ahead of the weekly U.S. rig count.
Baker Hughes will release its rig count report this The number of domestic drillers has soared this year, but leveled off so far this summer as the energy industry has grown impatient with stubbornly low oil prices.
WTI light sweet crude oil was down 14 cents at $48.90 a barrel, having briefly touched $50 this week. Prices rose as OPEC insisted it will curb supplies through 2017, but markets doubt whether Saudi Arabia has the influence to force other cartel members to follow up.
In economic news, the U.S. unemployment rate slipped to 4.3% from 4.4%, a 16-year low. Average wages climbed 0.3% to $26.36 an hour, as the economy generated 209,000 jobs, well beyond estimates for 180,000 new jobs.
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