Daily News Nuggets | Today’s top stories for gold and silver investors
December 16th, 2025
Jobs Added, But Trouble Brewing
The November jobs report finally arrived — 11 days late because of the government shutdown — and it sends mixed signals for the economy.
The economy added 64,000 jobs last month, slightly above the 50,000 economists had expected. At the same time, the unemployment rate rose to 4.6%, the highest level since September 2021. October’s figures were revised to show a loss of 105,000 positions.
These numbers are noisy. Departures of federal workers tied to corporate buyouts and other one-time effects distorted the data. Economists warn there’s a meaningful margin of error and that revisions are likely when delayed data are incorporated in January.
Markets barely moved on the release, but the Federal Reserve now has another signal that rate cuts may need to be deferred into 2026 as labor market slack persists.
The Labor Market’s 2026 Question: Thaw or Crack?
After a year of what many economists call a “no-hire, no-fire” freeze, the central question for 2026 is whether the labor market will loosen slowly or break down more sharply.
Data from hiring trackers show the greater risk is a crack: much of 2025’s modest growth came from a handful of industries, especially healthcare, which accounted for nearly half of net job gains. A pullback in that sector would quickly pressure headline employment figures.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has acknowledged the labor market is under strain and said job creation “may actually be negative” in some months. Some analysts call this a textbook soft landing; others fear the economy could enter 2026 in weaker condition than it began 2025.
The working consensus is for continued slow and selective hiring. For workers who lose jobs, finding replacements will likely be harder than it was a year ago.
Ivory Coast Gold Miners Cave to Tax Hike
Gold miners operating in Ivory Coast have begun paying a newly imposed flat 8% royalty on revenue, retroactive to January 2025, after months of resistance with the government.
The West African nation replaced its previous 3–6% sliding scale with the higher flat rate as part of efforts to broaden fiscal revenues beyond cocoa. Mining companies initially pushed back, citing contractual protections, but with the government firm and gold prices up sharply this year, firms opted to settle rather than risk penalties or protracted legal battles.
This change mirrors a broader trend in resource-rich countries: when commodity prices rise, governments often seek a larger share of returns. For investors in gold and other resources, the lesson is familiar — rising prices can bring heavier taxation and policy shifts that affect margins and project economics.
The Bitcoin Slump Nobody’s Talking About
Bitcoin is on track for only its fourth annual loss ever, and this decline lacks an obvious catalyst such as a major exchange collapse or industry scandal.
The cryptocurrency is down roughly 7% year-to-date after a steep one-day drop, trading about 30% below its October record high. What stands out is investor fatigue: trading volumes have fallen and the token has traded in a wide range for months, suggesting the pullback is more about exhaustion and consolidation than panic-driven selling.
For long-term observers, a quieter, range-bound period is noteworthy — sometimes the larger story is that there isn’t an immediate, dramatic story at all.
Morgan Stanley: Gold’s Rally Slows, But Keeps Climbing
Wall Street remains constructive on gold, though analysts expect future gains to be steadier than the surge seen in 2025.
Morgan Stanley projects gold could reach $4,800 per ounce by the fourth quarter of 2026. That forecast assumes the pace of central bank and ETF buying eases from this year’s elevated levels, while potential Fed rate cuts and a softer dollar continue to support the metal.
The bank’s outlook for silver is less optimistic. It sees 2025 as the peak year for the metal’s supply deficit, and expects a slowdown in industrial demand — notably from solar panel installations — to weigh on prices in 2026. In short, silver may underperform gold next year, underscoring that even within a broader precious-metals upswing, performance can vary considerably by asset.
