gold futures were up sharply on friday finding support from concerns over the banking sector following a plunge in svb financial shares and a decline in treasury yields and the dollar after the latest monthly us jobs data prices for the precious metal got a boost as the data showed a monthly climb in the us unemployment rate even as the number of jobs created in february rose more than expected the us jobs data was solid and coming on top of federal reserve chairman jerome powells hawkish testimony it would have posed a threat to golds floor near 1800 adrian ash director of bullionvault told marketwatch but for bullion prices the shock from the crash in shares of silicon valley bank parent company svb financial group sivb has proven much stronger driving gold higher as banking shares lead global stock markets lower amid sudden fears over credit quality and counterparty risk ash said the us created a robust 311000 new jobs in february the government reported on friday economists polled by the wall street journal had forecast 225000 new jobs the increase in employment last month followed a revised 504000 gain initially 517000 in january the unemployment rate however rose to 36 from 34 and hourly wages saw its smallest increase in a year up just 02 gold prices climbed higher after the release of the jobs report reacting to a higherthanexpected unemployment rate some cooling in wage inflation and a jobs created number significantly lower than the previous months said jeff klearman portfolio manager at graniteshares which runs the graniteshares gold trust bar the numbers while not outright indicative of a cooling labor market may give the federal reserve reason to continue with its policy of small 25 basis point rate increases while waiting to see the cumulative effect of already implemented hikes he told marketwatch meanwhile financial markets watched the plunge in shares of svb financial after the santa clara califbased financialservices company disclosed large losses from securities sales and a stock offering meant to provide a boost to its balance sheet gold is reacting to worries over contagion in the banking system said brien lundin editor of gold newsletter its obvious that investors are growing increasingly concerned about the entire banking sector the current financial system was built for ultralow interest rates and the pace and degree of the feds rate hikes has almost assuredly caused great damage he said weakness in us treasury yields and the dollar following the jobs data also supported gold prices he said and likely indicative of expectations the fed will refrain from returning to its previous aggressive monetary policy said klearman the yield on the 10year treasury was down by nearly 17 basis points at 375 while the us dollar as measured by the ice us dollar index was down 09 at 10438 this content was created by marketwatch which is operated by dow jones  co marketwatch is published independently from dow jones newswires and the wall street journal