(Kitco News) - The U.S. economy continues to move closer to a soft landing scenario as the U.S. labor market continues to remain resilient as the number of American workers applying for first-time unemployment benefits dropped unexpectedly
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits fell to a seasonally adjusted 216,000 for the week ending Oct. 26, the Labor Department announced on Thursday. The number of claims dropped by 12,000 from last week’s revised estimate of 228,000.
The data beat expectations, as consensus estimates forecasted a reading of 229,000 claims.
Many economists have been expecting to see a sharp increase in unemployment claims as many Southeastern states have been impacted by hurricanes during these survey periods. Despite some extreme weather issues, the data shows initial jobless claims continue to trend lower.
The gold market is not reacting much to the latest labor market data. It is experiencing some technical selling pressure after briefly pushing above $2,800 an ounce on Wednesday. December gold futures last traded at $2,784.10 an ounce, down 0.59% on the day.
Meanwhile, 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 236,500, down from the previous week’s revised average of 238,750.
Continuing jobless claims, which represent the number of people already receiving benefits, were at 1.862 million during the week ending October 19, down from last week’s revised number of 1.888 million.
