Initial claims rose by 1,000 to a seasonally adjusted 199,000 for the week ending August 1, falling slightly below the consensus forecast of 203,000. The Labor Department also revised the previous week’s data upward to 198,000, confirming the longest stretch of sub-200,000 claims since March 2023.

Investors appear to be looking past the government data, focusing instead on Wednesday’s private-sector report from ADP, which showed a meager gain of only 44,000 jobs in July. This discrepancy between the two reports has kept gold buyers active, with the metal recently trading at $4,265.60 an ounce, a daily increase of 0.45%.