Platinum falls below $800, dollar off week highs

Platinum prices fell nearly one percent in American trade to September 12 lows, while the dollar index tapered off late November highs, following a spate of labor data from the US today. 

As of 02:36 GMT, platinum fell 1.02% to $792.05 an ounce, marking three-month lows, while the dollar index shed 0.35% to 96.73 off week highs. 

The US private sector added 179 thousand in November, missing estimates of 195K, and compared to 225K in October, revised from 227K. 

US productivity rose 2.3% as expected, up from 0.9% in the second quarter, while labor costs rose 0.9%, slowing down from 1% in the second quarter. 

US trade deficit widened to $55.5 billion from $54.6 in September, missing estimates of $55.2 billion, while unemployment claims fell by 4 thousand in the week ending December 1 to 231K. 

Continuing claims for the week ending November 24 fell 74 thousand to 1.631 million.

Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic is due to speak about the national economy at the Georgia Economic Outlook series, in Atlanta, later today.