UPDATE 9-Oil down with equities after U.S. jobs data; awaits rig count

(Updates market moves, adds trader comment)
By Barani Krishnan
NEW YORK, Sept 4 (Reuters) - Crude futures were down more
than 1 percent on Friday, once again tracking stocks on Wall
Street, as oil traders awaited a weekly reading on the U.S.
drilling rig count after monthly U.S. jobs data failed to
provide much direction.
The United States created fewer new jobs in August than
forecast in a Reuters survey, but unemployment in the world's
largest economy also fell its lowest in more than seven years.
ID:nL1N11925M
Analysts concluded that the report was neither good or bad
enough to help the U.S. Federal Reserve decide on a potential
rate hike later this month, meaning financial markets could stay
extremely volatile the next couple of weeks. ID:nL1N11A0PE
While Brent, the global benchmark for oil, and U.S. crude
were headed for weekly gains, both were whipsawed lately by some
of the biggest swings ever in oil prices as oversupplied and
oversold crude markets had rallied on the strength in equities
before turning lower.
U.S. stocks were more than 1 percent lower on Friday. .N
Lighter trading volumes were also evident with players hesitant
to put on big positions ahead of the longer U.S. weekend due to
Monday's Labor Day holiday.
"I get the feeling the longs do not want to wait out the
three-day weekend," said Tariq Zahir, a trader in crude oil
spreads and fund manager at Tyche Capital Advisors in Laurel
Hollow, New York.
Brent LCOc1 was down 80 cents, or 1.6 percent, at $49.88 a
barrel by 12:04 p.m. EDT (1604 GMT), after falling $1 earlier.
Still, it was headed for a second straight week of gains, rising
10 percent this week for its best week since late April.
U.S. crude CLc1 slid 60 cents, or 1.3 percent, to $46.15.
It was up 2.4 percent on the week, after last week's 12 percent
gain, the biggest since 2011.
Oil services firm Baker Hughes (NYSE:BHI) will issue its weekly reading
on the U.S. oil rig count at 1:00 p.m. (1700 GMT).
The rig count has risen for six consecutive weeks so far.
A drop in the reading indicates less drilling for oil in the
future, and could alleviate the weak price outlook from an
oversupplied crude market. RIG/U
Oil prices have been a wild ride over the past two weeks.
U.S. crude plunged to a 6-1/2-year low of $37.75 early last
week, then climbed almost 28 percent over three trading sessions
into Monday before giving back some of those gains.