Crude oil prices dropped sharply as a stronger U.S. dollar outweighed demand hopes following an encouraging jobs report.
Light sweet crude oil fell to $75.47 per barrel, down 99 cents on the session. Prices reached as high as $77.90 in the early-going, but later hit as low as $74.85.
The greenback rallied to a weekly high, rising away from a 16-month low against the euro and also surged to a three-week high against the yen.
The Labor Department revealed that non-farm payrolls edged down by 11,000 in November. Most economists had expected a decline of at least 100,000. The unemployment rate also unexpectedly dipped to 10%.
Later, a Commerce Department report showed that factory orders increased by 0.6 percent in October following an upwardly revised 1.6 percent increase in September. Economists had been expecting orders to come in unchanged compared to the 0.9 percent increase originally reported for the previous month.
Oil finished down $1.81 on the week. Prices have been falling since Wednesday when the Energy Information Administration reported inventories increased by 2.1 million barrels last week. A drop of 1.3 million barrels was forecast.
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June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.