At first glance, a much weaker than expected employment report was perceived as an underlying bullish factor for gold. However, gold closed lower as market participants digested the fact of jobs added in September. On Friday, the price dropped due to some other facts.
On Friday, the US Labor Department said that the number of new jobs added in September turned out to be significantly lower than expected. Thus, the number of jobs rose by 194 thousand, whereas analysts had foreseen an increase of 450-500 thousand.
According to MarketWatch, the hiring growth was not in line with Wall Street's forecast. There has been a reduction in public schools. Thus, the Wall Street Journal had predicted about 500 thousand new jobs. Notably, MarketWatch said that the economic recovery had slowed down.
In other words, such a weak report should have had a strong bullish influence on gold prices. However, gold futures closed lower after the previous growth due to the revision of the figures disclosed in August. Initial estimates unveiled a climb of 235 thousand, whereas according to the revised data, the number of new jobs jumped by 332 thousand.
What is more, on Thursday, the US reported that the number of unemployment claims declined by 38 thousand to 326 thousand. It proves that the economic recovery is accelerating. As a result, the unemployment rate dropped to 4.8% from 5.2%, reaching the lowest level since the pandemic began.
The fact is that now, companies cannot hire the necessary labor force and purchase the necessary materials. That is why goods and services have become more expensive. This is one of the main reasons for the largest increase in inflation in the United States over the past 30 years.
Economists had thought that in September those who earlier received additional unemployment benefits would have started looking for jobs. However, US companies are still facing problems in finding new employees, even if they offer higher salaries.
Earlier, the number of unemployed people totaled 11 million. Now, it has dropped to 5 million. However, before the pandemic, the employment rate was a bit higher than now.
On the 15-minute chart, we see that in the first four hours after the publication, gold advanced to $1,781 from $1,758. However, then, the price slid to $1,755.60 from $1,781.
