The U.S. non-farm payrolls significantly exceeded market expectations in April, with 253,000 new non-farm payrolls and an unemployment rate falling to 3.4%. After the release of the non-farm payrolls data, gold fell sharply while the dollar rose.
Gold soars as U.S. dollar tumbles amid shocking April nonfarm payrolls
The data released by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) on May 5 (Friday) showed that the number of non-agricultural employment increased by 253,000 in April, which was higher than the market expectation of 180,000 and the previous value was revised down from 236,000 to 165,000; The unemployment rate was 3.4%, lower than market expectations of 3.6% and the previous value of 3.5%.
In terms of wages, the average hourly wage in April rose by 0.5% month-on-month or 16 cents to US$33.36, exceeding market expectations; it rose by 4.4% year-on-year, also exceeding market expectations of 4.2%. Also, the average workweek for all employees in private nonfarm payrolls was unchanged at 34.4 hours, in line with expectations. The employment participation rate was unchanged at 62.6% in the same month.
After the release of the non-agricultural data, gold plummeted by more than $30 in the short term to around $2004 per ounce.
On May 3, Putin suffered a bomb attack in the Kremlin, which further intensified the tension on the battlefield between Russia and Ukraine, and gold rose by 15 US dollars.
According to the current data, gold will still rebound in the short term, but it is not expected to reach the previous level of around 2045 US dollars, and it is still expected to rise to around 2015 US dollars.