(Kitco News) - The U.S. labor market continues to stabilize as the number of workers applying for first-time unemployment benefits remains roughly unchanged for the fourth consecutive week.
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped by 2,000 to a seasonally adjusted 210,000 for the week ended March 23, the Labor Department said Thursday. According to consensus estimates, economists had forecast 212,000 claims in the latest week. The previous week’s claims were revised up slightly to 212,000.
Claims have been hovering in a narrow range since their high of 224,000 in early February.
The gold market is not seeing much reaction to the muted labor market data as it holds solid gains in elevated territory. June gold futures last traded at $2,229 an ounce, up 0.69% 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 – rose to 211,000, down from the previous week's revised average of 211,750.
The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending March 16 was 1.819, an increase of 24,000 from the previous week's revised level of 1.795 million.
The latest report shows that the U.S. labor market remains fairly healthy even as major companies continue to announce layoffs. According to some market analysts, the data does present some risks for the gold market as it could force the Federal Reserve to delay its rate cuts this year.
The Federal Reserve has said that it would like to see some more slack in the labor market before it is confident that inflation will move back to its 2% target.
