The US economy added jobs at a strong pace in February, which likely confirms that the Federal Reserve will continue to raise interest rates for a longer period.
The closely watched employment report released by the Labor Department on Friday showed that non-farm payrolls increased by 311,000 last month.
January data was revised downward to show an addition of 504,000 jobs instead of 517,000 in the previous reading, according to Reuters.
Economists polled by “Reuters” had expected an increase in jobs to 205,000 jobs and stated that the economy needed to create 100,000 jobs per month to keep pace with growth in the working-age population.
Jobs estimates for February ranged from 78 to 325,000 jobs.
Gold prices fell today, Friday, as investors await the non-farm payroll data in the United States, which is expected to be released today, to assess the possible path to raise interest rates in the US Central Bank.
By 3:34 GMT, spot gold fell 0.1%, to $1828.90 an ounce, and US gold futures fell 0.1%, to $1832.90 an ounce, according to Reuters.
Jerome Powell, Chairman of the US Federal Reserve, warned this week of a larger and possibly faster rate hike to control high inflation.
