NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Gold prices jumped more than $10 on Friday, shooting up as the U.S. dollar continued a steep decline after weaker-than-expected U.S. jobs data.
The precious metal often gains when investors seek a safe haven. Gold futures for December delivery, the most actively traded contract, gained $10.70, or 0.9%, to $1,210.20 an ounce.
They reached $1,211.20 briefly. The dollar index (DXY 80.37, -0.45, -0.56%) , a measure of the greenback against a basket of major currencies, dropped to 80.364, down from 80.815 in late North American trading Thursday.
On Thursday, gold settled up $3.40, or 0.3%, at $1,199.30 an ounce.
The U.S. economy shed 131,000 jobs last month, while the unemployment rate held steady at 9.5%. Adding to the weak picture in the jobs report, private sector payrolls rose only by an estimated 71,000 in July,
Both figures were weaker than expected by Wall Street economists surveyed by MarketWatch, whose average forecast was for overall payrolls to drop 60,000 and for a 100,000 increase in private-sector jobs.
