(Kitco News) -The gold market continues to test initial support at $2,300 an ounce and not attracting any new bullish momentum even as the U.S. labor market shows signs of weakening.
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased by 9,000 to a seasonally adjusted 221,000 for the week ended March 30, the Labor Department said Thursday.
The employment data was weaker than expected. According to consensus estimates, economists had forecast to remain relatively steady at 212,000. The previous week’s claims were revised up slightly to 212,000.
Weekly jobless claims have risen to their highest level since early February.
The gold market is not seeing much reaction to the latest employment data. June gold last traded at $2,304.90 an ounce, down 0.44% on the day.
According to some analysts gold’s price action is not surprising; the precious metal is seeing some technical selling pressure after hitting a fresh all-time high of $2,324.80 an ounce.
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 214,250, an increase of 2,750 from the previous week's revised average.
The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending March 23 was 1.791, a decrease of 19,000 from the previous week's revised.
