NEW YORK, April 5 (Xinhua) -- Oil prices rallied on Friday, amid strong U.S. employment data, easing worries over weakening oil demand due to potential economic slowdown.
U.S. total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 196,000 in March, the Department of Labor reported on Friday. Economists polled by Dow Jones expected a reading of 175,000.
Notable job gains occurred in health care and in professional and technical services, according to the department. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate was unchanged at 3.8 percent.
Morgan Stanley on Thursday trimmed its forecast for U.S. crude growth for 2019 by 100,000 barrels per day, as productivity improvements have been slowing and the rig count has been rolling over, according to Reuters.
The West Texas Intermediate for May delivery increased 0.98 U.S. dollar to settle at 63.08 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for June delivery increased 0.94 dollar to close at 70.34 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange. Enditem
