Crude Reaches Seven-Week Low on Strong Dollar, Weak Job Market

Crude oil reached a seven-week low at the end of trading Friday, on a strengthening dollar and concerns about the U.S. labor market, prompted by a government jobs report

, according to reports by Reuters.

On Thursday, crude fell 5 percent, the largest one-day drop since July, Reuters said.

U.S. crude ended trading Friday down $1.95, or 2.67 percent, to $71.19 a barrel. According to Reuters, the front-month three-day loss was $6.04, or 7.8 percent, and prices have been down for four straight weeks.

On Friday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released the most recent jobs report, which indicated that the unemployment rate fell from 10 to 9.7 percent in January. However, there were 20,000 more jobs lost during the month, painting a continued dim picture of the job market and putting additional pressure on the energy markets.