When this article was originally published, the Labor Department was scheduled to release September’s jobs report later that morning. Economists surveyed at the time expected the U.S. to have added 220,000 non-farm jobs during the month. August’s report had fallen well short of expectations, with 142,000 new jobs, though most experts then viewed August as an anomaly within an otherwise improving employment market.
As the original article explained, payroll data often had a significant effect on precious-metals markets. If the actual payroll numbers met or exceeded expectations, the article expected gold and silver to pull back because the Federal Reserve would likely continue tighter monetary policies. Conversely, a disappointing employment report could have supported gold and silver, since it might have led the Federal Reserve to reconsider reducing or removing its stimulus measures.
The original author’s personal view when this article was published was that the U.S. employment picture was weaker than many experts believed. The original article said the original author would not have been surprised to see another disappointing September jobs report.
