The latest US unemployment data just came out, and the numbers are a bit eye-catching. For the week of January 3rd, initial jobless claims were 208,000, basically in line with expectations, but the continuing claims on December 27th soared to 1.914 million, which indeed reflects a lack of momentum in the labor market recovery. Simply put, the resilience of the employment market is weakening.

The gold market's reaction was very direct. Once the data was released, the gold price quickly rebounded from around 4407 intraday, but then faced resistance at the 1-hour 20-period moving average and pulled back. The current situation is that the 4444 level has become a roadblock, preventing gold from moving higher.

From the 1-hour moving average system, it looks like gold is likely to continue correcting downward in the short term, with the key support at 4402. However, a valid break below this support requires the MA20 to cross below the MA89 before it can be confirmed—no need to jump to conclusions yet.

From a trading perspective, it is recommended to operate within the 4444-4400 range, adopting a high short and low long approach, and switching strategies flexibly during range-bound oscillations. The most important thing is position management—once this range is broken, the market may take a new direction, and quick responses will be necessary.