Despite hopes of the job market improving over the seasonal period, U.S. weekly job claims increased moderately last week, signaling the fragility of economic recovery and pointing towards renewed investments in gold.
These rates, which were forecasted to be 197,000, came in at a much higher 207,000 applications for the week ended January 1. This data suggests the economy continues to be in real turmoil around rising Omicron case rates – something which favors the gold bulls and increased price action long term.
The shortage of workers over the Christmas period disrupted traditional employment trends, which led to the 7,000 increases in jobless application in the recent week.
Another report from global outplacement firm Challenger, also showed that job cuts in US-based employers had risen by 28.1% in December, leading experts to anticipate further increases in jobless applications throughout the early months of 2022.
These figures show that economic recovery is still a long way off, suggesting economic stimulus measures must stay in place, a move which undoubtedly favors gold.
