Crude prices gave up 8.6% Thursday, marking the biggest one-day percentage decline since April 2009. The Nymex contract settled below the psychologically important $100-a-barrel mark for the first time since March.
Market participants remain uncertain over whether crude prices have yet found a floor.
The government, in its latest snapshot on employment, said the economy added 244,000 jobs overall last month, well above the 185,000 jobs that analysts had forecast.
