Weakest jobs data since September 2010!

The tepid labor market has led to a flurry of chatter from economists and investment strategists that a fresh round of fiscal and monetary stimulus is in the offing. President Obama is set to give a speech next week where he will outline a plan to restart the waning economic recovery. Later this month, Chairman Bernanke and the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) will convene a two-day meeting. A fresh round of quantitative easing appears to be on the table despite the Fed Chairman’s dwindling consensus on the FOMC. Gold prices have soared 9.7% off the $1,704 per ounce level hit just two weeks ago.

The gold price surged closing this week ahead of the release of the monthly jobs report and rallied further on the weaker than expected data. The price of gold climbed $56.12 to $1,882.30 per ounce after the Labor Department reported that zero nonfarm payrolls were created in August versus expectations of 68,000, according to a Bloomberg survey of economists. This was the weakest jobs data since September 2010. Furthermore, July’s payroll figures were revised downward. The unemployment rate was unchanged at 9.1% in August.