Gold market can't find any traction following rise in weekly jobless claims
New York (Jun 17) Weaker-than-expected labor market data is not helping the gold market find any bullish traction.
Thursday the U.S. Labor Department said that weekly jobless claims rose by 37,000 to 412,000, up from the previous week's unrevised estimate of 375,000 claims.
The latest labor market data was worse than expected as consensus forecasts looking for claims to rise to 360,000.
However, the latest employment data is not having much impact on the gold market. August gold futures last traded at $1,783.6 an ounce, down more than 4% on the day. The gold market lost significant ground Wednesday after economic projections from the Federal Reserve showed that the central bank is looking at two interest rate hikes by 2023.
The four-week moving average for new claims – often viewed as a more reliable measure of the labor market since it flattens week-to-week volatility – fell to 395,000 down by 8,000 claims from the previous week.
"This is the lowest level for this average since March 14, 2020 when it was 225,500," the report said.
Continuing jobless claims, which represent the number of people already receiving benefits, were at 3.518 million during the week ending June 5, an increase of 1,000 from the previous week's revised level.
KitcoNews
