Gold on Friday rose after a US jobs report showed more Americans returning to the labor market, a welcome sign for the US Federal Reserve as it tries to cool inflation.
US employers added a healthy number of jobs last month and a steady stream of people entering the workforce lifted the unemployment rate.
Nonfarm payrolls rose 315,000 last month, a US Department of Labor report showed on Friday, while the jobless rate unexpectedly rose to a six-month high, the first increase since January, as the participation rate climbed.
Photo: Reuters
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 recorded a 1.5 percent weekly loss, after falling for five straight months on expectations the Fed would keep interest rates high for some time, undermining non-yielding assets.
Spot gold rose 1.18 percent to US$1,712.41 an ounce in New York. Gold futures climbed 0.8 percent to settle at US$1,722.60 an ounce on the COMEX in New York.
Silver rose 2.15 percent to US$18.05 an ounce, but was down 4.55 percent for the week. Palladium and platinum also advanced.
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