A surprisingly robust U.S. employment report weighed on gold prices Thursday. The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits fell by 34,000 to 388,000 in the week ended Dec. 25, the Labor Department said in its weekly report Thursday. This is the first time the figure dropped below 400,000 since July 2008. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had expected claims to fall by just 2,000. What with the week being only 3 or 4 days, I'm not surprised. IMO the numbers that will come out for the week ending Jan. 8 will give many a heart attack-ack-ack-ack.