(Kitco News) - Gold prices showed little reaction and traded flat on the day as the number of American workers applying for first-time unemployment benefits rose from last week.
On Thursday, the U.S. Labor Department said that weekly jobless claims increased by 12,000 to 218,000 during the week ending Dec. 23, up from the previous week's revised estimate of 206,000 claims.
The number was higher than the consensus forecast, as economists were expecting to see jobless claims rise to around 211,000.
The gold market is not seeing much reaction to the latest employment data, with spot gold trading right around unchanged on the daily chart at $2,078.36 per ounce in the minutes following the release, up 0.05% 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 – fell to 212,000, down slightly from the previous week's revised average of 212,250.
Continuing jobless claims, which represent the number of people already receiving benefits, were at 1.875 million during the week ending Dec. 16, 14,000 above the previous week's revised level of 1.861 million.
