Gold and Silver Finish Week Lower on Jobs Report

On Friday, gold (NYSEARCA:GLD) futures for August delivery fell $30.50 to settle at $1,578.90 per ounce, while silver (NYSEARCA:SLV) futures declined 75 cents to close at $26.92.

Both precious metals logged a weekly loss after the latest unemployment report showed that the labor market remains in bad shape, but apparently not bad enough to spark quantitative easing chatter. In June, the U.S. economy added just 80,000 jobs, well below estimates of 100,000 and slightly better than May’s revised higher 77,000 figure, according to the Labor Department.

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The headline unemployment rate was unchanged at 8.2 percent, but the U-6 rate, which includes everyone in the headline rate, plus people who are either employed part-time but prefer a full-time position, or want work but have stopped looking, ticked higher to 14.9 percent. “The job market is soft,” said David Resler, chief economic adviser at Nomura Securities International Inc., according to Bloomberg. “I’d characterize our reaction as much the same way the Fed will react — not surprised but disappointed. It’s just not the kind of growth we need to see at this stage in the business cycle.”

In afternoon trading, the SPDR Gold Trust (NYSEARCA:GLD) dipped 1.64 percent, while the iShares Silver Trust (NYSEARCA:SLV) dropped 2.64 percent, as the U.S. dollar reached two-year highs against the euro. Gold miners (NYSEARCA:GDX) such as Goldcorp Inc. (NYSE:GG) and Yamana Gold (NYSE:AUY) fell more than 3 percent. Meanwhile, First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG) and Endeavour Silver (NYSE:EXK) declined 4.58 percent and 5.15 percent, respectively.

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Disclosure: Long EXK, AG, HL, PHYS