Oil fell below $41 a barrel on Thursday, pressured by more gloomy data on the state of the economy in top energy consumer the United States.

U.S. crude fell $1.23 a barrel to $40.93 by 1500 GMT. London Brent crude was 25 cents down at $44.65 a barrel.

U.S. unemployment rose to a record peak in mid-January, while new orders for long-lasting manufactured goods fell for the fifth month in a row.

The feeble state of the U.S. economy was already illustrated by a larger-than-expected 6.2 million barrel rise in crude oil stocks last week, according to government data on Wednesday.

Stocks at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for U.S. crude oil futures, rose a further 300,000 barrels.

“U.S. crude has weakened against Brent again. The 300,000 barrel stock build in Cushing and the general crude stock build has caused this,” said Christopher Bellew, a broker at Bache Commodities in London.

“Run cuts and OPEC production cuts may offer some support,” he said.

OPEC Secretary General Abdullah al-Badri, speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, said OPEC would not hesitate to act again if the oil price remained low.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries has pledged to cut supply by 4.2 million barrels per day since September last year to try to support oil prices, which have dropped more than $100 a barrel since July.

Badri said on Wednesday OPEC was expected to have delivered fully on its pledged supply curbs by the end of this month, but a weak economy would continue to erode demand for fuel.

OPEC next meets on March 15 to decide output policy.

Martin King, analyst with FirstEnergy Capital Corp, said OPEC had done a much better job of cutting supplies from the market than many had expected, setting the stage for a gradual price rebound in the second half of 2009.

“We see the crude market on the cusp of achieving real signs of stability, driven in part by tighter supplies out of OPEC.”

LONDON, Jan 29 (Reuters)