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(Kitco News) The initial weekly jobless claims decreased by 26,000 to 239,000 in the week to Saturday, surprising the markets with a bigger-than-expected drop.
Economists’ consensus calls projected the initial claims to come in at 266,000. The previous week’s level was revised up by 1,000 to 265,000.
The four-week moving average for new claims, viewed as a more reliable measure of the labor market as it flattens week-to-week volatility, increased by 1,500 to 257,500. This marked the highest level for this average since November 13, 2021. The previous week’s four-week moving average was revised up by 250 to 256,000, the U.S. Labor Department said on Thursday.
Continuing jobless claims, representing the number of people already receiving benefits, were at 1,742,000 during the week ending June 17, a decrease of 19,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 1,761,000. The four-week moving average was at 1,757,500, a decrease of 13,000. And the previous week’s four-week moving average was revised up by 500 to 1,770,500.
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 tumbled to new daily lows after the release, with August Comex gold futures last trading at $1,908.30 an ounce, down 0.72% on the day, and touching 3.5-month lows. The precious metal also reacted to the final reading of the U.S. Q1 GDP data, which was released at the same time and showed the economy growing at 2%, up from the previous estimate of 1.3%.
![Live 24 hours gold chart [Kitco Inc.]](/images/live/gold.gif?0.2924175530478188)
