THE price of oil closed above US$96 yesterday, after the government said the economy added 175,000 last month, a good sign for fuel demand.

US benchmark oil for July delivery gained US$1.27, or 1.3 percent, to finish at US$96.03 a barrel in New York. Oil ended the week with a gain of 4.4 percent.

The oil market's initial reaction to the report from the Labor Department was negative. Oil fell as low as US$93.72 a barrel earlier yesterday. But the stock market gave the jobs numbers a thumbs-up, rising about 1 percent in early trading, and oil took off from there. At one point oil it reached US$96.39.

The job growth in May was at a steady pace that showed strength in the face of tax increases and government spending cuts. But the unemployment rate rose to 7.6 percent from 7.5 percent in April. That's because more people began looking for work, a healthy sign, but only about three-quarters found jobs.

Analysts don't expect that the jobs growth is strong enough to convince the Federal Reserve to pull back on the economic stimulus currently in place. Those measures have been intended to ease long-term borrowing costs, and have had the effect of supporting the price of oil.

Meanwhile, Brent crude, a benchmark for many international oil varieties, rose 95 cents to finish at US$104.56 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.

In other energy futures trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange:

- Wholesale gasoline rose 2 cents to end at US$2.87 a gallon.

- Heating oil gained 2 cents to finish at US$2.89 per gallon.

- Natural gas was flat at US$3.83 per 1,000 cubic feet.