Crude oil prices fell sharply to under $67 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange Thursday as increased unemployment rattled hope for a quick recovery.

The U.S. Labor Department said unemployment rose from 9.4 percent to 9.5 percent in June, triggering a sharp downturn in U.S. stock markets.

Crude oil prices fell $2.55 to $66.76 per barrel. Heating oil prices lost 0.0646 cents to $1.7011 per gallon. Reformulated blendstock gasoline fell 0.0716 cents to $1.7874 per gallon. Natural gas prices were unchanged at $3.715 per million British thermal units.

At the pump, the average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline was $2.629 Thursday, down from Wednesday's $2.63 a gallon, AAA said.