* U.S. May jobs rise disappoints, weighs on oil
* Dollar rise pressures oil as Euro drops to 4-year low
* Equities markets hit by jobs data, investors risk averse
* Coming Up: US consumer credit data for April due Monday
(Recasts, updates with quote, settlement prices)
By Robert Gibbons
NEW YORK, June 4 (Reuters) - Oil fell 4 percent on Friday,
sliding below $72 a barrel as disappointing U.S. employment
data and fresh fears about Europe's bank woes spreading made
investors risk averse and worried about economic recovery.
U.S. nonfarm payrolls rose 431,000 in May, well short of
the 513,000 analysts had expected, despite heavy government
hiring for the census. Growth in private employment slowed
sharply. []
"We were expecting bigger growth in private employment and
the figure looks relatively weak," said Christophe Barret, oil
analyst at Credit Agricole.
U.S. crude for July <CLc1> fell $3.10, or 4.15 percent, to
settle at $71.51 a barrel, the lowest close since May 26. It
dropped as low as $70.79 in post-settlement trading. ICE Brent
<LCOc1> fell $3.32 to settle at $72.09.
"Oil had some support earlier this week from the hope that
positive signs from the U.S., especially improved demand, might
offset the weakness in other economies, but the jobs report
lowers demand expectations," said Phil Flynn, analyst at
PFGBest Research in Chicago.
Crude has been trading between the $64.24 intraday low on
May 20, which was the weakest front-month price since July
2009, and the 2010 peak of $87.15 struck on May 3.
Both U.S. and European stock markets fell sharply on Friday
after the release of the jobs data and intraday the Dow Jones
Industrials <> index fell below the key 10,000 level.[]
[]
The euro fell on heightened concern Europe's debt crisis is
expanding, with the equities slide adding pressure. Concerns
about Hungary's public finances added to worries that the euro
zone debt problems might be spreading.
Speaking on Friday ahead of talks in South Korea between
the world's top 20 developed and emerging economies,
policymakers expressed concerns about the global economy,
adding to the uncertainty about energy demand. []
U.S. copper futures ended at a 7-1/2 month low as the jobs
data fractured confidence already dented by worries over
Chinese monetary tightening and the euro zone. []
Adding to perceptions that its meteoric growth may be
slowing, an official newspaper reported China's main ports
imported 17.29 million tonnes, or 4.07 million barrels per day,
of crude in May, up 12.8 percent from a year earlier, but down
7 percent from April. []
The start of the Atlantic hurricane season this week was
punctuated by the top U.S. government weather agency warning it
could be the most intense since 2005. This provided some
support earlier this week to energy prices. []
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita severely damaged and disrupted
U.S. oil production, refining and consumption when they crashed
through the Gulf of Mexico region in 2005.
Adding to concern about storms was the oil spilled by BP's
felled oil rig. BP began capturing some oil on Friday after
installing a containment cap atop a ruptured Gulf of Mexico
well and U.S. President Barack Obama was set to make his third
trip to the stricken area since the disaster. []
(Additional reporting by Joe Brock in London; Editing by Lisa
Shumaker)
