(Bloomberg) -- Gold climbed, after traders ramped up wagers on a December interest-rate cut by the Federal Reserve following a report that showed surprisingly weak US employment data.

Bullion topped $4,000 an ounce on Friday, having trimmed losses in the previous session to end little changed. Yields on 10-year Treasuries fell the most in about a month on Thursday after outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. released data showing the biggest October job cuts in more than 20 years. Concerns about a softer labor market may bolster the case for further rate cuts — a scenario that tends to benefit non-yielding precious metals.

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Still, US officials have expressed conflicting views over the outlook for monetary policy, with Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee saying on Thursday the lack of official inflation data due to the US government shutdown left him “even more uneasy” about continuing to cut the cost of borrowing.

Gold is trading little changed from last Friday’s close, following two straight weeks of losses after prices snapped back from a record high above $4,380 an ounce last month. Still, the metal is still up more than 50% this year, and on track for its best yearly performance since 1979.

Rate cuts in the US have supported gold prices, which have also been boosted in recent months by inflows into bullion-backed exchange-traded funds and elevated central bank purchases. The government shutdown — now the longest in US history — has made it more difficult to assess the world’s largest economy, making data provided by private firms like Challenger an increasingly important guide.

The Fed’s rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee is due to convene next month for its final scheduled meeting of 2025.

In other precious metals, silver rose for a third day after the US added it to a government list of critical minerals included in the Trump administration’s Section 232 probe, which could lead to tariffs and trade restrictions. Any duties on silver could ripple through on metals markets because the US relies heavily on imports to meet demand.

Spot gold rose 0.8% to $4,007.14 an ounce at 2:55 p.m. in Singapore. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was up 0.1%. Platinum and palladium also gained.

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