The price of oil dropped sharply for a second day after the US government said the number of people seeking unemployment aid reached a four-month high.
At midday in New York, benchmark oil for May delivery was down $1.80, about 2%, to $92.65 a barrel.
Oil had not dropped below $93 a barrel in two weeks. It fell $2.74, or 2.8%, yesterday. That was the biggest one-day decline since November.
The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits rose last week by 28,000, the third straight increase, according to the US Labour Department.
Weekly applications increased to a seasonally adjusted 385,000. That is the highest level since late November.
Applications are a proxy for layoffs, so any indication that fewer people are making the daily commute can be interpreted as a sign of lower demand for gasoline as well.
Oil prices also fell back because of the stronger dollar, which makes crude more expensive and a less attractive investment for traders using other currencies.
The dollar has risen partly because of a big drop in the yen after the Bank of Japan announced an aggressive monetary easing campaign.
Looser monetary policy tends to weaken a country's currency. The dollar rose to 96.06 yen, up more than 3% from 92.84 yen yesterday.
Wholesale gasoline futures fell 1 cent to $2.90 a gallon and have dropped about 7% so far this week.
Phil Flynn, senior market analyst at Price Futures Group, wrote in a daily report that he believes the decline will put American drivers "in much better shape as we head into this summer driving season."
Brent crude, used to price many kinds of oil imported by US refineries, fell $1.27 to $105.84 per barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.
