3 Things Impacting Silver Prices Today

San Francisco (Feb 20)  What’s impacting silver prices today? First, let’s take a look at what silver prices are doing right now. Silver is trading down $0.18, or 0.8% at $21.67/oz. Silver was trading as low as $21.40, but like gold, silver is trying to erase its early losses.

3 pieces of economic data were released this morning.

Jobless Claims Edge Lower

Initial jobless claims dipped 3,000 to 336,000 on the week ending February 15 according to the Labor Department. That wasn’t as big of a drop as analysts were expecting at 335,000, but it was pretty much in line with expectations.

The four-week moving average continues to show a worrying increase in jobless claims. The average moved higher by 1,750 to 338,500. The labor market has cooled since the start of the new year. Jobless claims have stayed above 325,000 and nonfarm payrolls in January disappointed.

Consumer Prices Rise as Energy Costs Jump

Consumer prices rose in January after energy costs soared due below average temperatures in some parts of the U.S. The Labor Department reported the consumer price index rose 0.1% in January. Year-over-year, consumer prices have increased 1.6%. That is a 0.1% increase over December and closer to the Fed’s target inflation goal of 2%.

Electricity prices jumped 1.8% last month and natural gas prices surged 3.6%. Heating fuel also saw a big jump at 3.7%.

U.S. Markit Flash PMI Jumps

A gauge of U.S. manufacturing jumped to a four-year high in February. The U.S. flash purchasing managers’ index rose to 56.7 in February, up from 53.7 in January. Any reading above 50 indicates expansion in the sector.

Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit, pointed to a rebound in production after delays due to weather in January as one of the reasons for the jump in the PMI. A significant rise in backlogs of work and a sizable drop in inventories “point to ongoing growth of production and hiring in March,” Williamson said.

(Source Newsldge)