Oil futures fell Friday, extending losses to a seventh week in a row. Light, sweet crude for delivery in February lost 43 cents, or 0.9%, to settle at $48.36 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Nymex crude had settled higher for the two past trading sessions. On the week, it lost 8.2%. The seven-week string of losses is the longest since a matching streak in November. Brent crude for February delivery the European benchmark, lost 85 cents, or 1.7%, to settle at $50.11 a barrel. Brent lost 11% this week, also down for seven consecutive weeks.

Prices seesawed for most of Friday, finding early support on the positive U.S. jobs report. The U.S. economy added 252,000 jobs in December and the unemployment rate fell to 5.6% from 5.8%, topping expectations. That boost wore off by mid-session, however, and New York-traded oil changed hands for as low as $47.16 a barrel. In the home stretch, however, crude futures pared such losses after news producers had idled the most oil rigs in a single week in more than two decades, as reported by oil-field services company Baker Hughes Inc. 

That stoked hopes of less U.S. supply down the road, which would help stabilize global crude prices. Broadly, however, there has been “no change in bearish market dynamics,” said Jim Ritterbusch, an oil analyst with Ritterbusch and Associates. Oil markets remain oversupplied and global demand is still seen as weak, he said. Adding to the downside momentum, gasoline futures hit fresh multi-year lows on Friday, he said. Another measure of activity in energy, employment in the oil-and-gas sector rose in December, climbing by 400 jobs, despite oil’s slump, according to the most recent jobs report.