Oil held steady around $68 a barrel on Friday, after U.S. data showed the unemployment rate rose by less than expected, albeit to a 26-year high. U.S. crude down 3 cents at $67.93 a barrel. A stronger dollar weighed on gains. "We had this move slightly lower, on the back of the dollar. The dollar pared earlier losses and is gaining," said Andrey Kryuchenkov, analyst at VTB Capital. "We're still trading on sentiment." "The numbers were in line," Kryuchenkov said of the U.S. unemployment data. (We're on) a very rocky road to recovery now." Oil prices have traded in a range between about $67 and $69.40 a barrel for three days, and high levels of oil inventories have pushed them down by more than 6% since the end of last week. If crude prices end this week down more than 6%, that would be the biggest weekly decline in eight weeks.