(Kitco News) The initial weekly jobless increased by 7,000 to 225,000 in the week to Saturday, slightly surprising the markets with a sign that the U.S. employment situation is starting to cool slightly more than expected.
Economists’ consensus calls projected initial claims to come in at 220,000, following the previous week’s revised level of 218,000.
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 – decreased to 218,750. The previous week’s four-week moving average was revised up to 219,000, the U.S. Labor Department said on Thursday.
Continuing jobless claims, which represent the number of people already receiving benefits, were at 1,493,000 during the week ending October 29, an increase of 6,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 1,487,000.
The four-week moving average rose to 1,450,250, an increase of 32,250. And the previous week’s four-week moving average was revised up to 1,418,000.
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 jumped after the data was released, but the reaction was more in response to the U.S. October CPI data, which was published at the same time and showed an unexpected slowdown in the inflation pace. Last month’s inflation number eased to 7.7% from September's 8.2%. December Comex gold futures last traded at $1,732.50, up 1.10% on the day.
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