(Kitco News) - The U.S. labor market continues to defy expectations and remains fairly robust as fewer workers than expected applied for first-time unemployment insurance last week.
However, gold investors are ignoring most economic data Thursday as they continue to focus on the market’s surging momentum as it consolidates near record highs.
Thursday, the U.S. Labor Department said that weekly jobless claims fell by 1,000 to 209,000 during the week ending March, down from last week’s revised data of 210,000 claims. The previous week’s data was sharply revised down by 10,000 claims.
The drop in jobless claims beat economists' expectations as consensus forecasts were looking for a rise to 218,000.
The gold market is not seeing much reaction to the latest labor market data as it sees some modest technical selling pressure. April gold futures last traded at $2,170.50 an ounce, down 0.47% 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 208,000, down from the previous week's revised average of 208,500.
The report also noted sharp revision for workers who are struggling to find new employment.
Continuing jobless claims, which represent the number of people already receiving benefits, increased to 1.811 million during the week ending March 2, up by 17,000 claims above the previous week's revised level of 1.764 million. The previous week’s data was revised down by 112,000 claims.
