COMMODITIES-Oil jumps, gold falls after strong U.S. jobs data

MARKETS-COMMODITIES* US crude oil jumps over 1 pct on supportive US jobs data

* Strong jobs, dollar rise pressure gold in 0.8 pct drop

* US March jobs up 216,000, jobless rate dips to 8.8 pct

* CRB index starts Q2 with 0.4 pct daily gain

NEW YORK, April 1 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures finished Friday with strong gains, jumping more than 1 percent after robust U.S. labor market data suggested healthy demand for fuel would continue, but that same sound reading sent investors holding gold as a safe haven running for the exits.

Industrial metal copper fell even as the positive U.S. jobs report boosted equities. The copper market stayed focused on sluggish demand in top consumer China for the metal used in construction, electronics and power industries.

The Reuters-Jefferies CRB index finished about 0.4 percent higher, with corn leading the way, along with higher energy prices. During the first quarter of 2011, the CRB, a gauge of 19 mostly U.S.-traded commodities, reached a level unseen since Sept. 2008, and finished the period with an 8 percent gain.

Supportive U.S. jobs data sent U.S. crude futures to their highest close in 2-1/2-years, as they reinforced the view that robust U.S. growth would continue. Libya's conflict and Middle East unrest also kept investors worried about supply.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, May crude rose $1.22, or 1.14 percent, to settle at $107.94 a barrel. U.S. crude ended with a weekly gain of $2.54.

The U.S. labor market recorded a second straight month of solid gains in March with 216,000 additional payrolls and the jobless rate fell to a two-year low of 8.8 percent. A decisive shift in the labor market should help underpin economic recovery.

A separate report from the Institute for Supply Management showed factory activity grew strongly in March, although it backed off a nearly seven-year high hit in February.

"It provides more evidence that the economy is gaining a self-sustaining momentum, but it also says we still have a long way to go," said Julia Coronado, a senior economist at BNP Paribas in New York.

GOLD SMARTS AFTER JOBS

Gold fell as much as 1 percent early after the strong employment data boosted the dollar. The precious metal bounced off session lows in later trade on euro zone debt worries, Middle East unrest, and dovish interest rate comments from one of the Federal Reserve's most powerful policy makers.

"As economic conditions appear to be improving, evidenced by today's data, gold suffers as a store of value in times of fiscal or financial uncertainties," said Mark Luschini, chief investment strategist at broker-dealer Janney Montgomery Scott with $53 billion in assets under management.

William Dudley, president of the New York Federal Reserve Bank, said the Fed was "still very far away" from achieving its mandate of maximum sustainable employment and price stability, even though the economy is on a firmer footing, and he saw no need for the central bank to reverse course.

Some gold investors grew wary this week when some Fed officials hinted interest rates might start to rise this year.

Copper, which fell 2.4 percent in the first quarter, slipped further on the first day of the second quarter, as a lull in Chinese buying and a rising trend in inventories kept investors worried about near-term demand weakness.

SUPPLY ISSUES SIMMER

Corn prices surged for a second day, hitting their highest level since the 2008 food crisis as traders bet that grain bins could be nearly emptied unless higher prices restrain demand.

Prices jumped 6.5 percent a day after the U.S. Agriculture Department cut its quarterly stocks estimate more than expected amid strong demand from the livestock sector, ethanol distillers and importing nations.

Cocoa prices climbed as oversold bean futures staged a rebound as fighting spread between forces loyal to presidential claimant Alassane Ouattara and incumbent Laurent Gbagbo in top producer Ivory Coast.

Bitter conflict spread across the Ivorian capital of Abidjan as forces loyal to Gbagbo fended off attacks by those seeking to install Ouattara.

New York's May cocoa futures rose $59 to end at $3,011 per tonne, following 3 days of selling that sent prices down 10 percent when it appeared that a Ouattara victory would reopen distribution pathways for cocoa.