* Brent, WTI on track for biggest weekly drop since June
* U.S. job growth slows in August, unemployment rate falls to 8.4%
* Russia's Novak says 2020 demand could fall by up to 10 mln bpd
* U.S. drillers add oil and gas rigs for second week in three
(New throughout, updates prices, market activity and comments to settlement)
By Stephanie Kelly
NEW YORK, Sept 4 (Reuters) - Oil prices fell more than 3% on Friday and posted their biggest weekly decline since June as fears of a slow economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic compounded worries about weak oil demand.
Brent crude LCOc1 , the international benchmark, fell $1.41, or 3.2%, to settle at $42.66 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) CLc1 fell $1.6, or 3.9%, to settle at $39.77 a barrel.
Brent fell 5.3% from last week, while WTI lost 7.4%.
Prices were pressured by extended declines in the U.S. equities market and by a report showing U.S. job growth slowed further in August as financial assistance from the government ran out. payrolls increased by 1.37 million jobs last month, though employment remained 11.5 million below its pre-pandemic level and the jobless rate was 4.9 percentage points higher than in February.
The unemployment rate fell to 8.4% last month, compared with a forecast 9.8%, which some market analysts said would lessen urgency in Washington, D.C. to pass additional economic stimulus legislation.
"The hopes for more stimulus are going out the window," said John Kilduff, partner at Again Capital in New York. "We need to see economic activity back up to get demand flowing."
A U.S. government report this week showed domestic gasoline demand has fallen again, while middle distillate inventories at Asia's Singapore oil hub have surpassed a nine-year high, official data showed. EIA/S bigger market picture is overall bearish sentiment that kicked off with lower gasoline demand reports on Wednesday," said Paola Rodriguez-Masiu, analyst at Rystad Energy.
Global oil demand could fall by 9-10 million barrels per day (bpd) this year due to the pandemic, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said. record supply cut since May by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, a group known as OPEC+, has supported prices.
OPEC began in August to ease the scale of the cuts, raising output by almost 1 million bpd, according to a Reuters survey. OPEC/O
In the United States, the oil and gas rig count, an early indicator of future production, rose two to 256 in the week to Sep. 4, energy services firm Baker Hughes Co BKR.N said on Friday. It was the second time in the past three weeks that energy firms added rigs. RIG-USA-BHI , RIG-OL-USA-BHI , RIG-GS-USA-BHI