Oil fell after manufacturing in the U.S. unexpectedly shrank for the first time in almost three years in June.
Prices tumbled as much as 3.4 percent as the Institute for Supply Management’s U.S. factory index fell to 49.7 in June from 53.5 a month earlier. Euro-area unemployment reached the highest level on record in May, the European Union’s statistics office said today. Oil’s decline followed a 9.4 percent jump June 29.
The jobless rate in the 17-nation euro area rose to 11.1 percent in May from 11 percent in April, the EU’s statistics office in Luxembourg said today. That’s the highest level since the data series started in 1995.
Unemployment climbed to 17.561 million people in May, an increase of 88,000 from the previous month, the report showed. Spain’s unemployment rate, the steepest in the EU, increased to 24.6 percent from 24.3 percent a month earlier.
Crude for August delivery dropped to $82.10 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The percentage gain was the biggest since March 12, 2009. Oil is down 17 percent this year.
Brent oil for August settlement on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange fell $1.99, or 2 percent, to $95.81 a barrel.
