(MENAFN- The Peninsula) A robust US jobs report yesterday sent the dollar soaring, driving a sell-off in the oil market that left the US futures benchmark back below $50 a barrel.

West Texas Intermediate for delivery in April slid $1.15 to $49.61 on the New York Mercantile Exchange, ending near its week-ago level. Brent North Sea crude for April, the international benchmark, dropped 75 cents to $59.73 a barrel in London.

The February jobs report came in much stronger than expected. The world's largest economy added 295,00 jobs, and the unemployment rate fell two-tenths to 5.5 percent, the lowest level since May 2008.

The greenback hit the highest levels against the euro in 11 and a half years.