Investing.com - Gold prices were lower on Thursday, after weekly U.S. employment data underlined the view that the labor market is strengthening.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for December delivery traded at $1,235.20 a troy ounce during U.S. morning hours, down $10.30, or 0.83%.
Futures were likely to find support at $1,222.00, the low from October 15, and resistance at $1,255.60, the high from October 21.
Also on the Comex, silver futures for December delivery shed 4.9 cents, or 0.28%, to trade at $17.18 a troy ounce.
The U.S. Department of Labor said in a report earlier that the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits last week increased by 17,000 to 283,000. Analysts had expected jobless claims to rise by 16,000 to 282,000.
Jobless claims have held below the 300,000-level for six consecutive weeks, indicating that the recovery in the labor market maintained momentum.
The four-week moving average fell by 3,000 to 281,000 last week, the lowest since May 2000. The monthly average is seen as a more accurate gauge of labor trends because it reduces volatility in the week-to-week data.
Elsewhere in metals trading, copper for December delivery inched up 1.8 cents, or 0.61%, to trade at $3.036 a pound.
Copper prices found support after data showed that manufacturing output in the euro zone expanded at the fastest rate in three months in October.
Europe as a region is third in global demand for the industrial metal.
Earlier Thursday, data showed that China’s HSBC manufacturing PMI edged up to 50.4 this month from 50.2 last month, only just above forecasts for 50.3.
Despite the improvement in the headline number, the level of output in factories fell to a five-month low of 50.7 this month, underlining concerns over a cooling economy.
The Asian nation is the world’s largest copper consumer, accounting for almost 40% of world consumption last year.