Gold Maintains Gain After U.S. Jobless Claims Rise 5,000 To 239,000
By Kitco NewsThursday February 16, 2017 08:34
Editor's Note: Updating earlier story with more details from report and current prices.
(Kitco News) - Gold maintained its overnight gains after the government said Thursday that initial weekly U.S. jobless claims rose by 5,000 to a seasonally adjusted 239,000 last week.
Consensus expectations compiled by various news organizations called for initial claims to be around 244,000 to 246,000 in the week to Saturday. The government left the prior week’s tally unrevised at 234,000 claims.
Meanwhile, the four-week moving average for new claims – often viewed as a more reliable measure of the labor market since it smoothens out week-to-week volatility – was up by 500 claims to 245,250.
Continuing jobless claims, the number of people already receiving benefits and reported with a one-week delay, decreased by 3,000 to a seasonally adjusted 2,076,000 during the week ending Feb. 4, the government said. The four-week moving average rose by 4,250 to 2,080,250.
After jobless claims and several other economic reports, as of 8:41 a.m. EST, Comex April gold was trading up $6.20 for the day to $1,239.30 an ounce. Four minutes ahead of the reports, the metal was at $1,239.40.
Traders monitor jobs data closely to gauge how aggressively the U.S. Federal Open Market Committee alters monetary policy.
By Allen Sykora of Kitco News; asykora@kitco.com
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