Crude slides on US recovery fears Oil sank to a three-month low on a sell-off triggered by Friday's soft US employment data, with both the Brent benchmark and WTI, the US contract, falling by $4. Weaker than expected non-farm payroll numbers pushed crude prices lower, with ICE June Brent, the global benchmark, down $4 a barrel to $112.09 and Nymex June WTI trading down $4.38 to $98.36 a barrel. Brent's fall below the 200-day average triggered technical selling, prompting a downward spiral in the price. Oil prices had already declined earlier in the week on worries about the US economic recovery and higher than expected crude oil inventories in America. US government data showed that for a sixth week in a row, oil stocks rose in the US and at Cushing, Oklahoma, the key crude delivery point. For both locations, inventories remained above the top of the five-year range for this time of year. Meanwhile, nervousness about Europe has also hit sentiment after the ECB said it was keeping rates unchanged, leaving traders and investors with bullish bets on oil on edge, said analysts. "Many funds are still on the long side of crude oil, but the global economic recovery remains something a bit elusive," said Olivier Jakob at consultancy Petromatrix. The return of Iran to the negotiating table later this month with western nations and a possible breakthrough towards a resolution of the crisis around the country's nuclear enrichment programme would also be bearish for the oil market. Uncertainty about the US economy has come as supply has increased in the physical markets and high prices have weighed on demand growth. Amrita Sen, analyst at Barclays said: "With Opec output at three-year highs, alongside a softening in demand conditions due to a combination of unseasonably warm weather and high prices curbing growth, have resulted in inventory builds, exacerbated by record refinery runs globally."