(Kitco News) - The gold market is trading higher on Wednesday morning after the latest employment data showed the U.S. labor market adding fewer jobs than expected, according to private sector payrolls processor ADP.
On Wednesday, ADP announced that 98,000 jobs were created in September. The report was worse than expectations, as consensus forecasts called for job gains of 105,000. May’s figure was unrevised from the initial reading of 122,000 net jobs.
"The pace of hiring is telling a story of both supply and demand,” said Dr. Nela Richardson, chief economist at ADP. “We know it's taking people longer to find work, but there also are signs of labor supply constraints in certain industries. For now, the overall effect is a slowdown in job creation.”
The gold market continued to trade near session highs after the latest employment data. Spot gold last traded at $4,026.83 per ounce, up 0.48% on the day.
The report noted that job creation was uneven in June. “Financial activities and information were among the gainers, while leisure and hospitality delivered a sixth month of weak hiring,” the report said.
Petros Pantzari, Chief Dealer at Monaxa, told Kitco News the ADP print is soft-dollar, gold-supportive.
"A cooler jobs print tells traders the U.S. labour market is losing momentum, which can pull Treasury yields lower and strengthen expectations that the Fed may need to lean more dovish," he said. "That usually pressures the U.S. dollar, while gold gets a bid because lower yields reduce the cost of holding non-yielding assets. The key caveat: if markets read this as growth fear rather than just Fed-relief, the dollar may find some safe-haven support — but the clean immediate reaction is dollar down, gold up."
