Oil prices hovered above $105 a barrel Thursday in Asia as investors awaited key US employment data for clues about the strength of the economy and crude demand. Benchmark oil for June delivery was down 17 cents to $105.05 a barrel at late afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 94 cents to settle at $105.22 in New York on Wednesday. Brent crude for June delivery was up 10 cents at $118.30 per barrel in London. Crude has traded between $102 and $106 for most of the last month as traders weigh a slowly recovering US economy against signs of weakening growth in Europe and Asia. On Wednesday, a survey showed that European manufacturing is slowing down and the unemployment rate in the 17 countries that use the euro rose to 10.9 percent in March.
