Gold market steady following weaker-than-expected weekly U.S. jobless claims

(Kitco News) - The gold market is holding on to modest gains even as the price sees little reaction to rising volatility in the U.S. labor market as more American workers than expected applied for first-time unemployment benefits last week.

Thursday the U.S. Labor Department said that weekly jobless claims fell by 19,000 to 793,000, down from the previous week’s upwardly revised estimate of 812,000 claims.

Despite the decline, the latest labor market data missed economists’ estimates as consensus forecasts called for initial claims to be round 755,000. The rise in jobless claims due to revised estimates ends three weeks of consecutive declines.