NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Gold and silver futures fell sharply Friday as an upbeat government jobs report boosted hopes for an economic recovery, reducing the precious metals' appeal as a safe haven. Nonfarm payroll fell 345,000 in May, the Labor Department reported early Friday. That's much less than the 500,000 expected by analysts surveyed by MarketWatch. The decline in payrolls was the smallest since September. Gold for June delivery fell $18.50, or 1.9%, to $962.70 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Meanwhile, July silver slumped 48.5 cents, or 3.1%, to $15.41 an ounce. "Sell on the news," said George Gero, a precious-metals trader for RBC Capital Markets. "The jobs data are better than expected, helping reducing people's worries." The selling in metals also spread to copper. The July copper contract lost 3 cents, or 1.3%, to $2.271 a pound. July platinum also declined, down $16.30, or 1.3%, to $1,277 an ounce. Bucking the trend, September palladium rose $1.60, or 0.6%, to $257 an ounce. In Friday's report, the Labor Department also showed unemployment increased more than expected. Unemployment rose by 787,000 in the month to 14.5 million, pushing the jobless rate from 8.9% to 9.4%, the highest since August 1983. See Economic Report. Holdings in the SPDR Gold Trust the biggest exchange-traded fund backed by gold, stood at 1,132.50 metric tons Thursday, unchanged from a day ago, according to latest data from the fund. Holdings in the iShare Silver Trust , the biggest silver ETF, stood at 8,605.43 metric tons, also unchanged from a day ago.

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