Chicago [US], September 2: Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose on Friday as U.S. job data slowed down.
The most active gold contract for December delivery rose 1.20 U.S. dollars, or 0.06 percent, to close at 1,967.10 dollars per ounce.
The U.S. Labor Department reported Friday that the United States added 187,000 jobs in August but the unemployment rate jumped unexpectedly to 3.8 percent from 3.5 percent in July, reflecting the impact of high interest rates and the U.S. economy's gradual cooling from the boom that followed pandemic lockdowns.
Cooling jobs data, combined with the expectation that the Federal Reserve may reconsider another rate hike this month, supported gold.
"Although there has been some progress," inflation remains well above the Federal Reserve's 2-percent target, said Cleveland Federal Reserve President Loretta Mester at an European Central Bank research conference on Friday.
Referring to the labor market, Mester said some progress is being made in bringing demand and supply into better balance, but the job market is still strong. Job growth has slowed and job openings are down, but the unemployment rate is low, at 3.8 percent.
Other economic data released Friday were mixed. The S&P Global U.S. Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) fell to 47.9 in August from 49.0 in July, indicating a stronger downturn in operating conditions at U.S. goods producers.
The Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing PMI registered 47.6 percent in August, 1.2 percentage points higher than the reading of 46.4 percent in July. This is the 10th month of contraction and continuation of a downward trend that began in June 2022.
The U.S. Commerce Department reported that U.S. construction spending climbed 0.7 percent to an annual rate of 1.973 trillion dollars in July, after rising by 0.6 percent to a revised rate of 1.959 trillion dollars in June.
Gold rose 1.4 percent for the week.
Silver for December delivery fell 25.00 cents, or 1.01 percent, to close at 24.562 dollars per ounce. Platinum for October delivery fell 5.70 dollars, or 0.58 percent, to close at 968.70 dollars per ounce.
Source: Xinhua