NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Copper futures rose Thursday as government data showed a rise in U.S. May retail sales and a decline in weekly initial jobless claims, raising hopes for an economic recovery. The number of first-time claims for state unemployment benefits fell 24,000 to 601,000 in the week ended June 6, the Labor Department reported Thursday. May retail sales increased 0.5%, the Commerce Department reported. After the data, July copper rose 4.3 cents, or 1.8%, to $2.41 a pound on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The metal has gained more than 5% this week. Gold and silver, however, moved lower, as the economic data curbed the precious metals' appeal as a safe haven. August gold fell $8.40, or 0.9%, to $946.30 an ounce, and July silver lost 25 cents, or 1.6%, to $14.975 an ounce. Also pushing copper higher Thursday, trade data from China, the world's biggest copper consumer, showed the country's May imports of copper hit a fresh high for the fourth straight month. Copper imports rose by 6% from the previous month, to 422,666 metric tons. China has helped copper inventories at the London Metal Exchange move lower. Inventories at the LME fell to 294,275 metric tons Wednesday, down 2,075 metric tons from the previous session and 90,900 metric tons from a month ago, data from the exchange showed. In exchange-traded funds Thursday, holdings in the SPDR Gold Trust (GLD 92.98, -0.88, -0.94%) , the biggest exchange-traded fund backed by gold, stood at 1,132.15 metric tons on Wednesday, unchanged from the previous day, according to the latest data from the fund. Holdings in the iShare Silver Trust (SLV 14.82, -0.19, -1.27%) , the biggest silver ETF, stood at 8,605.43 metric tons Wednesday, also unchanged. In other metals Wednesday, July platinum fell $15.30, or 1.2%, to $1,257.50 an ounce, and September palladium lost $1.50, or 0.6%, to $257.25 an ounce.

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