Oil prices settled above $52 a barrel on Friday, slightly lower on the day after a report that US unemployment in March soared to a 25-year high. US light crude for May delivery settled at $52.51 a barrel, down 13 cents, but retained most of Thursday's gain of $4.25 that lifted the contract to $52.64. London Brent crude settled at $53.47 a barrel, up 72 cents. Oil moved down by around 1.44 percent after data came out showing US employers slashed 663,000 jobs in March, lifting the unemployment rate to 8.5 percent, the highest since 1983. The greenback firmed as rising US jobs data dulled market optimism.
