Signs of slower recovery puts pressure on oil prices

NEW YORK, Feb. 27 (UPI) -- Crude oil prices slipped to near $102 per barrel Thursday in New York on renewed concerns about the strength of the U.S. economic recovery.

The Commerce Department said Thursday that durable goods orders fell for the third time in the past four months in January. The Labor Department said first time jobless benefit claims rose by 14,000 in the week, reaching 348,000.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude oil dropped 22 cents to reach $102.29 per barrel.

Natural gas gave up 38 cents to settle at $4.48 per million British thermal units.

Reformulated blendstock gasoline prices dropped 3.49 cents to end at $2.7606 per gallon.

Heating oil prices shed 3.46 cents to $3.0865 per gallon.

At the pump, the national average price for a gallon of unleaded rose from Wednesday's $3.432 per gallon to $3.436, the AAA Daily Fuel Gauge Report said.