Gold gains slightly as dollar falls on jobless data

CHICAGO, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) -- Gold futures on the COMEX Division of the New York Mercantile Exchange ended a little higher on Thursday due to a weak dollar after the jobless data. Silver was down, but platinum inched up.

Gold price for December delivery rose 1.50 U.S. dollars, or 0.2percent to finish at 947.30 dollars an ounce.

The Labor Department reported that the number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits fell 10,000 to 570,000 for the week ending August 22, and those collecting long-term unemployment benefits dropped to the lowest level since April.

The bullish jobless data, which is considered another new signal of economy recovery, weighed much on dollar as investors usually purchase the greenback as an asset of safe-haven. The dollar index, which measures the U.S. unit against a basket of six major currencies, stood at 78.535 by the end of gold floor trading time, down from 78.660 late Wednesday.

December silver finished at 14.251 dollars per ounce, down 3.7 cents. October platinum climbed 2.10 dollars to 1240.50 dollars anounce.