Oil prices slipped today, settling just under $68 a barrel as disappointing news from the labor market outweighed economic optimism from data showing that the U.S. service sector and retail sales improved, according to Reuters. U.S. crude prices for October delivery settled at $67.96 a barrel, down 9 cents, after reaching a high of $69.40 on U.S. stock gains and a weaker dollar earlier. London Brent crude settled at $67.12 a barrel, down 54 cents. "Right now, there's not a whole lot of momentum here in either direction. I think the trend for the week, which has been down, is still in force," said Tom Bentz, senior commodity analyst, BNP Paribas commodity Futures Inc in New York. U.S. jobless claims fell last week, according to a report released by the Department of Labor, but the prior week's figure was revised up. The number of people collecting long-term unemployment benefits rose to 6.23 million in the week ended Aug. 22, well above market expectations for 6.12 million. Traders were also waiting for Friday's U.S. employment report for August to get a picture of how the labor market is faring as the economy recovers from recession. A Reuters poll of analysts earlier this week showed U.S. employers likely cut jobs by the least amount in a year in August. U.S. stocks edged up on Thursday on better-than-expected sales from retailers in August. The Institute for Supply Management released a report showing that while the U.S. services sector shrank in August, an index measuring activity was at its highest in nearly a year. Oil inventory data that indicated some demand recovery released by the U.S. government on Wednesday failed to push prices much higher. OPEC is expected to leave output targets unchanged when it next meets on Sept. 9 in Vienna.
