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(Wallace Refiners) – Gold prices are holding steady as fewer American workers file for first-time unemployment insurance ahead of the Christmas holidays.
The U.S. Labor Department said that weekly jobless claims fell by 89,000 to 803,000, up from the previous week’s revised estimate of 892,000 claims.
The data were better than expected as market consensus called for initial claims to be round 882,000.
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 – rose to 818,250, up by 4,000 claims from the previous week.
Continuing jobless claims, which represent the number of people already receiving benefits, were at 5.337 million during the week ending Dec. 12, down by 170,000 from the previous week.
The gold market is not seeing much reaction to the latest employment numbers. February gold futures last traded at $1,871.80 an ounce, relatively flat on the day.
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