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Gold price holding around $1,750, ignores 16K rise in U.S. weekly jobless claims
(Kitco News) - The gold market is holding on to gains around $1,750 an ounce as the U.S. labor market continues to see high volatility with more American workers than expected applied for first-time unemployment benefits last week.
Thursday the U.S. Labor Department said that weekly jobless claims rose by 16000 to 744,000, up from the previous week’s revised estimate of 728,000 claims.
The latest labor market data missed economists’ estimates as consensus forecasts called for initial claims to be round 682,000.
The gold market is not seeing much reaction to the latest economic data as the market sees some renewed technical bullish momentum. June gold futures last traded at $1,749.40, up 0.45% on the day.
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 – rose to 723,750, up by 2,500 claims from the previous week.
Continuing jobless claims, which represent the number of people already receiving benefits, were at 3.734 million during the week ending March 27, down by 16,000 from the previous week.
“This is the lowest level for insured unemployment since March 21, 2020 when it was 3,094,000,” the report said.
