Oil falls after U.S. Payrolls rise less than expected

Oil fell, cutting its biggest weekly gain in a month on signs that economic recovery in the U.S. is fighting the world's largest consumer of crude.

Future resigned earlier gains after the Labor Department figures showed that U.S. employers added fewer jobs than expected in November and the unemployment rate rose unexpectedly, claiming the Federal Reserve's decision to inject more money into the economy to stimulate growth.

Oil for January delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell to 58 cents to $ 87.42 and was at $ 87.71 a barrel at 13:35 London time. Earlier it rose to $ 88.33 a barrel, the highest since Nov. 11, and 4.5 percent this week. Brent crude for January in Europe ICE Futures exchange in London fell 23 cents to $ 90.46 a barrel, after reaching a maximum of two years of $ 91.13 a barrel.

Payrolls increased 39,000, less than the most pessimistic forecast of economists surveyed by us, after a revised gain of 172,000 last month, the Labor Department figures showed today in Washington. The unemployment rate rose to 9.8 percent, the highest since April, while the hours worked and incomes stagnated.