What made the gold price last night hit a record high

Gold's rally continued to gain strength as the US labor market weakened with the number of available jobs falling more than expected in December.

According to the US Department of Labor's Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) report, the number of job vacancies in December - a measure of labor demand - fell to 7.6 million from 8.16 million in November. The figure was lower than economists' forecasts, who expected the figure to be largely unchanged.

The number of jobs available fell to 7.443 million, the lowest level since September 2024. The September 2024 level was also the lowest since February 2021, said Greg Michalowski, a currency analyst at ForexLive.

The gold market has recorded strong gains since the beginning of the year and continues to attract safe-haven flows. The most recent spot gold contract was trading at $2,838.40 an ounce, up 0.77% on the day.

Gold has been volatile in recent weeks amid the impact of the US Federal Reserve's increasingly hawkish monetary policy stance and growing economic and geopolitical uncertainties.

Last week, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said the central bank was in no rush to raise interest rates amid rising inflation risks and a strong labor market.

According to some analysts, the JOLTS data could put the Fed in a difficult position, as the report shows a weakening labor market. This could force the Fed to maintain its policy easing cycle even if inflation remains high. Some experts say gold could benefit in an environment of slowing economic growth and high inflation.

Looking more closely, new hires and total departures were unchanged in December, at 5.5 million and 5.3 million, respectively. Voluntary departures rose slightly to 3.2 million, while layoffs and terminations remained steady at 1.8 million.

Gold prices were also supported by safe-haven flows after US President Donald Trump's moves to impose tariffs. Donald Trump agreed to delay by a month the imposition of trade tariffs on Mexico and Canada after talks with Mexican President Sheinbaum and Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau. However, the US still officially imposed new tariffs on China on Tuesday.

In response, China imposed tariffs on many US goods immediately after the US tariffs on Chinese goods took effect on February 4. At the same time, the country also announced an investigation into Google.