(Kitco News) - The gold market is struggling to hold key near-term support at $4,500 an ounce as the U.S. labor market remains fairly resilient, with the number of available jobs rising more than expected in April.
April job openings—a measure of labor demand—rose to 7.62 million, up from March’s reading of 6.89 million, according to the Labor Department’s monthly Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS). Economists had expected a relatively unchanged reading of 6.87 million, according to consensus estimates.
The number of available jobs increased by roughly half a million compared to April 2025.
“In April, the number of job openings increased in professional and business services but decreased in finance and insurance,” the report said.
The gold market is not seeing a significant reaction to the better-than-expected labor market data; however, prices have been unable to hold decisive gains above $4,500 an ounce. Spot gold last traded at $4,502.90 an ounce, up 0.42% on the day.
According to some analysts, the labor market data could weigh on gold, as the resilient labor market gives the Federal Reserve room to focus on the persistent inflation threat and potentially raise interest rates by the end of the year.
Looking at the components of the report, the number of hires fell to 5.1 million, with the hiring rate falling to 4.6%, relatively unchanged from March.
Within separations, quits came in at 3.0 million, while layoffs and discharges totaled 1.7 million, both unchanged from the previous month.
