Gold Remains Steady After U.S. Jobless Claims Fall 5,000 To 210,000
(Kitco News) - Gold remained roughly steady Thursday after Labor Department datashowed that initial weekly U.S. jobless claims fell by 5,000 to aseasonally adjusted 210,000 in the week to Saturday. Comex December gold was last up 60 cents to$1,228 an ounce.
Consensus expectations compiled by various news organizations hadcalled for initial claims to be around 210,000 to 215,000. The governmentrevised the prior week's tally to 215,000 from the previously reported 214,000.
Meanwhile, the four-week moving average for new claims - oftenviewed as a more reliable measure of the labor market since it smoothens outweek-to-week volatility - was up by 2,000 claims to 211,750.
Continuing jobless claims, the number of people already receivingbenefits and reported with a one-week delay, decreased by 13,000 to aseasonally adjusted 1,640,000during the week ending Oct. 6, the governmentsaid.
Traders monitor jobs data closely to gauge how aggressively theU.S. Federal Open Market Committee alters monetary policy.
By Allen SykoraFor Kitco News
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