U.S. weekly jobless claims decline to 250,000, gold price ticks down

(Kitco News) The initial weekly jobless claims dropped by 2,000 to 250,000 in the week to Saturday, surprising the markets with a slight contraction.

Economists’ consensus calls projected for initial claims to come in at 265,000 following the revised level of 252,000 reported in the previous week.

Continuing jobless claims, which represent the number of people already receiving benefits, were at 1,437,000 during the week ending August 6, an increase of 7,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 1,430,000.

The four-week moving average rose to 1,413,000, an increase of 13,250. And the previous week’s four-week moving average was revised up by 500 to 1,399,750.

Traders watch the jobless claims data very closely to gauge its impact on the Federal Reserve’s employment side of the monetary policy mandate.

Gold edged down slightly following the data release. December Comex gold futures were last trading at $1,781.70, up 0.28% on the day after hitting a daily high of $1.786.30 an ounce.