Oil prices steady amid US unemployment, fuel demand concerns

NEW YORK: Oil futures were little changed on Thursday, supported by a fall in U.S. unemployment and Wednesday’s drawdown in crude inventories, but the spike in U.S. coronavirus infections fanned concerns that economic activity will weaken in coming weeks.

New COVID-19 cases in the United States rose by nearly 50,000 on Wednesday, according to a Reuters tally, the biggest one-day spike since the start of the pandemic.