Oil falls towards $42 after weak US jobs data

LONDON, Dec 5: Oil fell toward $42 a barrel Friday, sinking to its lowest level since January 2005, after a US government report showed more than half a million Americans lost their jobs last month. US employers axed payrolls by a shocking 533,000 in November for the weakest performance in 34 years, government data showed. US light crude plunged to $42.05 a barrel after the figures were released and by 8:46 am Est was trading at $42.36, down $1.31. London Brent crude was off $1.20 at $41.08. Many dealers and analysts expect oil to test the psychologically important $40 a barrel level fairly soon as evidence mounts of a significant decline in oil demand in all the major developed economies. — Reuters