(Kitco News) - The gold market is seeing some modest buying interest as the U.S. labor market continues to tighten, with the number of open jobs falling roughly in line with expectations.
March job openings—a measure of labor demand—fell to 6.87 million, down from February’s reading of 6.92 million, according to the Labor Department’s monthly Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS).
The drop matched consensus forecasts.
The gold market is attracting some renewed bullish momentum in the initial reaction to the latest labor market data. Spot gold last traded at $4,575.70 an ounce, up more than 1% on the day.
Although gold prices are moving higher, analysts have said that prices face initial resistance around $4,600 an ounce.
Although the drop in available jobs points to a cooling job market, analysts have said conditions haven’t weakened enough to force the Federal Reserve to cut rates this year. The U.S. central bank has maintained a relatively neutral monetary policy stance. After last week’s monetary policy meeting, markets have priced out all potential rate cuts for the rest of the year.
Looking at the components of the report, the number of hires increased to 5.6 million, up from 4.8 million in February, while the hiring rate rose to 3.5%, compared to 3.1% in February.
“This was the lowest hires rate since April 2020, when it was also 3.1%,” the report said.
Within separations, quits came in at 3.3 million, while layoffs and discharges totaled 1.9 million, both slightly higher but still relatively unchanged from February.
