U.S. job growth exceeded expectations in January, implying impressive economic growth and possibly lowering the need for additional Federal Reserve actions. Gold prices have fallen as a result.
According to the Labor Department, employers created 243,000 jobs in January, after adding 203,000 last December. A recent Bloomberg News survey predicted an increase of only 140,000 job positions. The U.S. employment rate has fallen to its lowest in three years; 8.3%.
“The growth in the U.S. is much better than expected, and that has damped the expectation of quantitative easing,” said Integrated Brokerage Services LLC’s Frank McGhee. “The market has priced in continued slow growth.”
Precious metals have fallen in value over the past few weeks, however. According to Bloomberg, gold futures for April fell 1.1%, while silver futures slid 1.2%.