Oil prices end brief weekly rally

Oil prices retreated Friday as the Labor Department said job growth in December showed momentum, though wages weren't able to follow suit.

The price for West Texas Intermediate crude oil, the U.S. benchmark, was off about 1 percent early in the Friday session to trade near the $48 per barrel mark, erasing two consecutive days of gains.

Oil prices have lost more than half of their value since June because markets are skewed toward the supply side in a weakened global economy.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration said in a weekly petroleum status report total U.S. oil production was 9.13 million barrels per day for the week ending Jan. 2, up about 11,000 bpd from the previous week.

A report from the U.S. Labor Department said the unemployment rate of 5.6 percent was a reflection of 58 consecutive months of job growth, the longest in U.S. history. Friday's report, however, showed hourly earnings fell by 5 cents in December, nearly erasing the 6 cent gain from November.

Low oil prices, however, mean low gasoline prices for American consumers, which translates to a de facto source of economic stimulus.

Markets were weighing Friday's decision from the Nebraska Supreme Court that cleared the route for the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline through the state. A State Department review of the pipeline found it would have "little impact" on prices at the pump.

The price for Brent, the global oil benchmark, threatened to again dip below the $50 threshold in early Friday trading, falling 1.7 percent from the previous session.