Unexpected US Job Losses in July Push Gold Above $4,350, Dollar to Two Month Low

A US Labor Department report released Friday, August 7, 2026, showed the economy lost 23,000 jobs in July, well short of the roughly 83,000 gain economists had expected, according to CNBC. June's job count was revised down to 20,000 and May's to 63,000. The unemployment rate unexpectedly fell to 4.1 percent from 4.2 percent, though largely because the labor force participation rate dropped to 61.4 percent, its lowest level in more than five years. Following the data, global gold prices jumped about 2.7 percent to above $4,350 an ounce on Friday, a two month high according to data source, while the US Dollar Index (DXY) fell 0.5 percent to 99.4, near a two month low. CNBC reported that, per the CME Group's FedWatch tool, the odds of a Federal Reserve rate increase at the September meeting fell to 44 percent and to 58.3 percent for October.