Gold price hovering around $1,720 after 20.5 million jobs reported lost in April

New York (May 8)  The gold market is struggling to find some momentum as the labor market, while significantly weakened by the COVID-19 pandemic, was in better shape than expected last month.
Gold prices are hovering around $1,720 an ounce, Friday, after the Bureau of Labor Statistics said 20.5 million jobs were lost in April. However, the data beat expectations; according to consensus forecasts, economists were expecting to see job losses of 22 million.

Economists noted that in a single month the U.S. economy has lost most of the jobs created in the last decade after the 2008 financial crisis.

"Employment fell sharply in all major industry sectors, with particularly heavy job losses in leisure and hospitality," the report said.

June gold futures last traded at 1,723 an ounce, down 0.18% on the day in initial reaction to the employment numbers.

The unemployment rate rose to 14.7%. According to consensus forecasts, economists were looking for a reading around 16%.

Looking at wages, the report said that average hourly earnings increased by $1.34 to $30.01. Wages increased a whopping 4.7% last month; economists were expecting to see a 0.5% increase in wages.

However, the report noted that the wage growth was not a positive factor for the labor market.

“The increases in average hourly earnings largely reflect the substantial job loss among lower-paid workers; this change, along with earnings increases, put upward pressure on the average hourly earnings estimates,” the report said.

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