Oil climbs above $58
Futures rise as investors respond to signs of economic stabilization.
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| Click the chart for current oil prices. |
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Oil prices rose Friday as signs of economic renewal in the world's biggest consumer of crude raised bets that energy demand will pick up.
Light, sweet crude for June delivery rose $1.92 to settle at $58.63 a barrel. It was the highest closing price since Nov. 11 when oil settled at $59.33 a barrel.
Government figures showed the U.S. economy lost fewer-than-expected jobs in April, suggesting the worst of the pain in the labor market is over.
A total of 539,000 jobs were lost last month, the Labor Department said. That's 160,000 fewer than in March, and was the lowest since October, when the economy shed 380,000 jobs. It was also fewer than the 600,000 loss that economists surveyed by Briefing.com had forecast.
Still, the job market remains depressed, with the unemployment rate climbing to a 25-year high of 8.9% in April from 8.5%.
Stocks rallied in response to the jobs report and signs the U.S. banking sector is in better shape than previously thought.
The price of oil tends to rise and fall with the major indexes since many traders view stocks as a leading indicator of future energy demand.
"The overwhelming sense in the market is that the economy is improving and that traders and hedge funds don't want to miss out on buying at relatively low levels," said Tom Pawlicki, energy analyst at MF Global, in a research report.
Oil is up 72.5% since closing at $33.98 a barrel on Feb. 12. Prices have been boosted by better-than-expected readings on the housing market, manufacturing activity and consumer sentiment.
Those so called green shoots have raised hopes that economic activity and the world's thirst for oil are poised for a rebound.
But ongoing concerns about weak demand for energy and historically high inventory levels have weighed on the market. Since peaking in July, the price of oil has come down more than $90 a barrel. 
