The US Department of Commerce released a weaker-than-expected economic data on Thursday.
The report showed that in the second quarter, US GDP grew by only 6.5% instead of the expected 8.5%. The data for the first quarter was also downgraded from 6.4% to 6.3%.
But even if the forecasts were not met, Q2 GDP data still posted the biggest spike in growth since Q3 2020, when the economy began to recover after an initial quarantine.
Personal consumption rose due to the improvement in many services, including food and lodging. The volume of vehicles and intellectual property products increased as well, thanks to research and development.
In terms of inflation, a 6.4% jump was seen in the PCE price index. Meanwhile, the baseline PCE, which excludes food and energy prices and is the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation target, grew 6.1%.
CIBC economist Katherine Judge said the recent slowdown in GDP growth was caused by weak housing investments, inventories and government spending.
The US labor market also continued to experience difficulties, and this could be seen with the latest data on jobless claims.
Data released on Thursday revealed that initial applications for unemployment benefits fell short of forecasts, as the figure fell by only 24,000 to 400,000.
Accordingly, this led to a bullish trend in gold.
On the previous forecasts, analysts said initial jobless claims would decrease below 400,000.
As for recurring claims, the number has soared by 7,000 to 3.269 million.
All these factors dragged dollar down, but pushed gold up.
