(Kitco News) - The gold market is holding near its all-time highs above $2,775 an ounce as the U.S. labor market shows signs of cooling as the number of jobs available dropped in September.
The number of job openings last month, a measure of labor demand, dropped to 7.44 million, according to the Labor Department's monthly Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) report. The number of jobs dropped from August’s downwardly revised numbers of 7.86 million jobs.
According to consensus estimates, economists were looking for job openings to remain relatively unchanged at 7.98 million.
“Over the month, hires changed little at 5.6 million. The number of total separations was unchanged at 5.2 million. Within separations, quits (3.1 million) and layoffs and discharges (1.8 million) changed little,” the report said.
The report said that for the year, job openings have dropped by 1.9 million.
The gold market is just off of its session highs in initial reaction to the weak labor market data. December gold futures last traded at $2,778 an ounce, up 0.8% on the day.
According to analysts, the cooling labor market bodes well for gold as it will support the Federal Reserve’s new easing cycle. Markets continue to expect the U.S. central bank to cut rates by 25 basis points next week.
