Gold rose after a US jobs report showed more Americans returning to the labor market, a welcome sign for the Federal Reserve as it tries to cool inflation.
(Bloomberg) — Gold rose after a US jobs report showed more Americans returning to the labor market, a welcome sign for the Federal Reserve as it tries to cool inflation.
US employers added a healthy number of jobs in August and a steady stream of people entering the workforce lifted the unemployment rate. Nonfarm payrolls rose 315,000 last month, a Labor Department report showed Friday, while the jobless rate unexpectedly rose to a six-month high, the first increase since January, as the participation rate climbed. The dollar edged lower following the data release, boosting gold.
The increase in nonfarm payrolls was broadly in line with expectations “and therefore doesn’t add much pressure on the US Federal Reserve to raise rates faster than the market already expected,” Capital Economics commodities economist Edward Gardner said in a message. “The gold price rose slightly on the news as the data release reduces the risk of faster-than-expected rate hikes going forward, which would raise the opportunity cost of holding gold.”
Gold is still on pace for a 1.7% weekly loss, after falling for five straight months on expectations the Fed will keep interest rates high for some time, undermining non-yielding assets.
Spot gold rose 0.7% to $1,709.66 an ounce as of 4:16 p.m. in New York. Silver, palladium and platinum advanced. Gold futures climbed 0.8% to settle at $1,722.60 an ounce on the Comex in New York. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index slipped 0.1%.
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