Oil mixed in Asian trade

Weak economic growth in Europe offsets improving employment data from the US

Oil prices were mixed in volatile Asian trade today as weak economic growth in Europe offset data showing buoyant employment growth in the United States, analysts said.

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in March gained three cents to $97.34 a barrel, while Brent North Sea crude for April delivery shed three cents to $117.97.

US claims for unemployment insurance, which indicates the pace of layoffs, fell to 3,41,000 in the week to February 9, compared with 3,68,000 in the previous week.

But "disappointing" eurozone growth data weighed on sentiment, said Ker Chung Yung, a senior investment analyst at Phillip Futures in Singapore.

The eurozone economy shrank 0.6% in the three months to December, worse than analyst projections for a decline of 0.4% and signalling a deepening of the recession.

The European Central Bank also slashed their eurozone growth forecasts for 2013 and 2014.

"Fourth quarter GDP growth was considerably worse than expected," DBS Bank said in a market commentary.

"Besides being the worst of the past five quarters, the main news is that Europe's core is now unquestionably mired in what used to be a periphery problem," it said, noting contractions in major economies France and Germany.