(Kitco News) - The gold market continues to consolidate but at elevated levels, as the U.S. labor market appears to be losing momentum after more American workers applied for first-time unemployment benefits.
On Thursday, the U.S. Labor Department said that weekly jobless claims came in at 231,000 during the week ending April 20, a jump of 22,000 from last week’s revised level of 209,0000 claims.
The latest employment data significantly missed expectations as economists were looking for a muted rise to 212,000.
Claims have risen to their highest level since November.
The gold market is not seeing much new momentum in its initial reaction to the disappointing labor market data; however, it continues to hold gains early in the session. June gold futures last traded at $2,334.60 an ounce, up 0.53% 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 – came in at 215,000, up from the previous week's average of 210,250.
Continuing jobless claims, which represent the number of people already receiving benefits, were at 1.785 million during the week ending April 27, below the previous week's revised level of 1.768 million.
