Oil extended its losses in Asian trade today as investor sentiment remained weighed down by the bigger-than-expected rise in US jobless claims, analysts said.
New York's main contract, light sweet crude for March delivery, fell 23 cents to $72.91 a barrel.
Brent North Sea crude for March delivery was off 35 cents to $71.78.
"The rise in US jobless claims generated concerns about the outlook for the US economy," commodity analysts from the Commonwealth Bank of Australia said in a report.
Data from the Labour Department yesterday showed seasonally adjusted claims rose to 480,000 in the week ending January 30, up 8,000 from the previous week's upwardly revised 472,000.
The reading was worse than the consensus forecast of 455,000 new claims and came ahead of today's January unemployment and jobs data.
Most analysts expect the Labor Department will report unemployment held steady at 10 percent and the economy created 15,000 jobs, after a loss of 85,000 in December.
The US is the world's largest energy user and its economic data has a big impact on oil prices which have taken a hit from weak American oil consumption.
