(Kitco News, Thurs. April 6th, 2023) – The gold market continues to hold on to its break-out gains from earlier in the week but is seeing little movement as the U.S. labor market continues to lose momentum with more America workers applying for first-time employment benefits than expected.
The latest weekly jobs data from the U.S. Labor Department shows that jobless claims are back above 200,000, but there is some volatility in the data as the government has made some changes to its season adjustment calculations.
The U.S. Labor Department said weekly jobless claims fell by 18,000 to 228,000, down from the previous week’s upwardly revised estimate of 246,000 claims. Last week’s initial estimate came in at 198,000.
Looking through the headline volatility, latest labor market data missed expectations as economists were expecting claims to hold around 200,000.
The gold market is not seeing much rection to the last labor market data. June gold futures last traded at $2,029.60 an ounce, down 0.29% 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 – fell by 4,250 claims to 237,750, down from the previous week’s massively upwardly revised average of 242,000 claims.
Not only are initial claims increasing, but the report notes that workers are having more difficulty finding a new job. Continuing jobless claims, representing the number of people already receiving benefits, were at s 1.823 million during the week ending March 25, rising by 6,000 from the previous week’s revised level.
“This is the highest level for insured unemployment since December 11, 2021 when it was 1,833,000,” the report said.
Investors remain laser-focused on U.S. employment data, a critical factor impacting the Federal Reserve’s monetary policies.
Posted by:
Jack Dempsey, President
401 Gold Consultants LLC
jdemp2003@gmail.com