Crude falls in Asia

SINGAPORE – Crude fell in Asian trade Monday as concerns over the US and Chinese economy put a damper on prices, analysts said.

New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in October, dipped 59 cents to $85.86 per barrel.

Brent North Sea crude for October delivery shed 74 cents to $111.59.

Oil prices were hit by persistently high unemployment rates in the US as well as runaway inflation in China, said Victor Shum, senior principal of Purvin and Gertz energy consultancy in Singapore.

“Jobs data in the US for August indicates that job markets may be stalling, and some data from China also shows reduced economic growth,” he told AFP.

The highly-awaited US non-farm payrolls report released Friday showed the economy of the world’s largest oil consumer creating no jobs in August, leaving the unemployment rate at a stubbornly high 9.1 percent.

A day earlier, two separate surveys showed China’s manufacturing activity rebounding slightly last month, but both indicated that inflationary pressures — a major bugbear for policymakers — had increased as well.

Beijing has been struggling to tame inflation, which hit a three-year high of 6.5 percent in July, amid fears rising food and housing costs could trigger social unrest in the country of more than 1.3 billion people.