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(Wallace Refiners) – Gold prices are holding firm as the U.S. labor market continues to see significant improvement as fewer American worker applied for weekly unemployment benefits. Although gold is holding firm support, prices remain well below the critical psychologically important level of $1,900 an ounce.
Thursday the U.S. Labor Department said that weekly jobless claims fell by 48,000 to 709,000. The data were better than expected; market consensus called for initial claims to be round 730,000.
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 – fell to 755,250, down by 33,250 claims from the previous week.
Continuing jobless claims, which represent the number of people already receiving benefits, were at 6.786 million during the week ending Oct. 31, down by 436,000 from the previous week.
The gold market is seeing little movement following the stronger-than-expected employment data. December gold futures last traded at $1,872.10 an ounce, up 0.5% on the day.
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