Oil rose

West Texas Intermediate crude oil was little changed in early floor trading on the New York Mercantile after rebounding from a decline of 0.7 percent.

WTI for March delivery declined 11 cents to $97.73 a barrel at 9:04 a.m. The price ranged from $97.11 to $98.14. The volume of all futures traded was 21 percent more than the 100-day average.

Brent for March settlement rose 37 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $107.56 on the ICE Futures Europe exchange. The European benchmark crude was at a premium of $9.83 to WTI on the ICE exchange, compared with $9.35 yesterday.

WTI rebounded after the Labor Department reported payrolls in the U.S. rose less than projected in January as retailers cut back after the holidays and government hiring fell. The unemployment rate unexpectedly dropped to 6.6 percent to the lowest level since October 2008 even as more Americans entered the labor force.

In China, the HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics’ services Purchasing Managers’ Index slid to 50.7 percent, the lowest since August 2011, a report today showed. The nation’s official Purchasing Managers’ Index fell to a six-month low of 50.5 in January as output and orders slowed, Feb. 1 data show. Numbers above 50 signal expansion.