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U.S. weekly jobless claims rise by 7k to 198,000, gold price climbs

Kitco Media
By Anna Golubova
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Updated
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(Kitco News) The initial weekly jobless claims rose by 7,000 to 198,000 the week to Saturday, surprising the markets with a bigger-than-expected increase.

Economists’ consensus calls projected the initial claims to advance to 196,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 191,000.

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 – climbed by 2,000 to 198,250. The previous week's four-week moving average was unrevised at 196,250, the U.S. Labor Department said on Thursday.

Continuing jobless claims, representing the number of people already receiving benefits, were at 1,689,000 during the week ending March 18, an increase of 4,000 from the previous week's revised level of 1,685,000. The previous week's level was revised down by 9,000.

The four-week moving average was at 1,691,750, an increase of 10,000. And the previous week's four-week moving average was revised down by 2,250 to 1,681,750.

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 ticked up to daily highs and then gave up some of those gains, with June Comex gold futures last trading at $1,990.60 an ounce, up 0.31% on the day.

Live 24 hours gold chart [Kitco Inc.]

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Anna Golubova

Anna Golubova is the Producer for Kitco News. With more than ten years of experience in media, she has covered a range of topics, focusing on economy and politics. Anna began to exclusively cover economic news in 2013, attending media lockups at the Bank of Canada and Statistics Canada to report on a range of key macro economic events, including interest rate announcements, GDP, unemployment, and retail. She holds a Master of Arts in International Relations from NPSIA, Carleton and a Bachelor's degree in Political Science and History from the University of Ottawa.

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