(Kitco News) - The gold market remains well supported and is slowing starting to attract bullish momentum as the U.S. labor market sees a rise in volatility as the number of American workers applying for first-time unemployment benefits jumps.
Thursday, the U.S. Labor Department said that weekly jobless claims increased by 25,000 to 214,000 during the week ending Jan 20, up from the previous week's revised estimate of 187,000 claims.
The number was higher than the consensus forecast, as economists were expecting to see jobless claims rise to around 199,000.
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 $2,017.40 per ounce in the minutes following the release, up 0.20% 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 slightly to 202,2500, down slightly from the previous week's revised average of 203,750.
Continuing jobless claims, which represent the number of people already receiving benefits, were at 1.833 million during the week ending Jan. 13, 27,000 above the previous week's revised level of 1.806 million.
Economists continued to pay close attention to the U.S. labor market as it continues to be a key factor regarding the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy decision. The Federal Reserve has said that it would like to see further slack in the U.S. labor market before it starts easing its restrictive interest rates.
