Aug. 9 (Bloomberg) — Oil rose as reports showed fewer Americans filed applications for unemployment benefits and the U.S. trade deficit declined, signaling economic growth may increase in the world's biggest crude-consuming country.
Futures climbed as much as 0.9 percent after the Labor Department said initial jobless claims dropped by 6,000 to 361,000 in the week ended Aug. 4. The U.S. trade gap shrank 11 percent to $42.9 billion in June, the smallest since December 2010, Commerce Department figures showed in Washington.
"The positive U.S. economic data is having an impact on crude," said Jason Schenker, president of Prestige Economics LLC, an Austin, Texas-based energy consultant. "These are positive growth signals. The trade number is a sign that second- quarter GDP will be revised higher."
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