West Texas Intermediate swung between gains and losses after fewer Americans than projected filed for unemployment benefits and before data forecast to show crude inventories declined. Futures were little changed in New York and are poised for a second weekly increase. U.S. jobless claims dropped by 42,000 to 338,000 last week, Labor Department data showed yesterday. Crude stockpiles slid by 2.65 million barrels, a fourth weekly decline, according to a Bloomberg News survey before a report from the Energy Information Administration today. “The jobless claims data are better than expected and the U.S. is doing fine,” Olivier Jakob , managing director of Petromatrix GmbH in Zug, Switzerland , said today by phone. “The volume is so light that it is difficult to trade.” WTI for February delivery gained 2 cents to $99.57 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange as of 11:09 a.m. London time. […]