Crude Futures Slide Ahead of Jobs Report

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Oil futures slid Friday ahead of the latest report from the federal government on the state of unemployment in the U.S.

The front-month contract for benchmark crude Friday was down $1.18 to $69.64 a barrel during electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Thursday, the contract settled at $70.82 after gaining 21 cent on the day.

Later in the morning, the Labor Department is expected to release the nonfarm payrolls report for September. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect nonfarm payrolls to have dropped by 180,000. Many also are also forecasting the unemployment rate to rise one-tenth of a point to 9.8%.

Elsewhere, Edge Petroleum filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Friday. A company press release noted that the company will sell its assets for $191 million. Shares closed at 53 cents on Thursday, and were dropping further in premarket trading.

Shares of Exxon Mobil and Chevron also lost ground on Thursday, slipping 2% and 2.3%. ConocoPhillips shares added 34 cents to finish at $45.50.

-- Written by Sung Moss in New York

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