Early on Friday, gold prices are climbing higher over a weakness in the dollar following the release of disappointing economic data from the US. At the time of writing, GOLD is trading at a little above $1,952.

The latest weekly jobless claims figures for the past week revealed that almost 30 million Americans were depending on unemployment benefits until the end of August. Meanwhile, housing starts in the US also posted a decline in August after rising for three consecutive months and the Philly Fed manufacturing index also slid lower in September from the previous month.

The latest figures suggest that economic recovery in the US is slowing down, helping support the safe haven appeal of gold. The weak economic data also sent US bond yields lower, which sent gold prices higher again.

Exports of gold from Switzerland to the US came to a near halt in the month of August, after climbing higher from the beginning of the pandemic. However, the prices of yellow metal continue to remain high as the world’s largest consumers of physical gold, China and India, continued to rise.