September 11, 2009 - Today's financial world saw the US Dollar take a fresh tumble, this time reaching a new low for 2009. This fall in the value of US paper currency provided a boost for commodities, including gold bullion and oil. The news that United States workers have lost over 7 million jobs since the beginning of the year put into perspective the Obama administration's claims on Thursday that they have saved or created 1 million jobs in the same time frame. The official US unemployment rate, currently at 9.7% and poised to break through the 10% mark before the end of 2009, is even higher than Europe's 9.5% figure. A worsening job market tends to give energy to the growth of gold bullion prices, because people place more value on things they need to live on like food and other natural resources. Contracting job markets in the 1930s and 1970s pushed the price of some bullion and other commodities to then-record highs, and many investors believe this cycle is repeating itself now.
The gold bullion spot price during morning trading on Friday is $1007, a 1% increase for the trading session and a growth of 6.21% in the past 30 days. Silver has registered a stronger than anticipated week, and is currently valued at $16.78 per ounce. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down slightly after five days of edging upwards, and Yahoo Finance reports that oil is up $4 in the last week, currently priced at $72.23 per barrel. Bullion and fuels like oil and natural gas are often used by investors to balance out inflation-ridden portfolios, and a large number of market analysts think this is the cause behind gold prices that have been rising since 2001.
