Oil Update: Crude Settles Higher

It was a choppy day for the price of oil, as crude futures touched above $61 and below $60 over the course of the day.

Benchmark crude for delivery in August picked up late, gaining 27 cents to settle at $60.41 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract went to a low of $59.25 earlier in the day. On Wednesday, the price on the contract slid for a sixth straight day, losing $2.79 yesterday.

Thursday introduced a new set of data for investors to interpret. On the jobs front, the U.S. Labor Department said that the number of new people applying for unemployment benefits fell by 52,000 last week to come to 565,000. Still, the number continuing on roles grew to a record high. ...