The gold price had been moving higher for a third consecutive day on Friday. The prices had breached the $1830 mark, and the US dismal data has supported its rise.

The US unemployment rate increased to 3.6% in February, according to data published by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. The main disappointments in the data come in the unemployment rate, which might have been expected to remain unchanged at a historically low level of 3.4%.

The spot gold price is now trading at nearly $1857, compared to $1834 before the release of the data.

The data published by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics also revealed on Friday that nonfarm payrolls rose by 311,000 in February. This reading came in much higher than the market expectation of 205,000.