Gold and silver continued along their two-day decline on Friday as November’s jobs data came in better than market expectations. Now, after a week of upbeat US economic data, investors will be fueled up and ready to speculate with regard to the exact timing of Quantitative Easing tapering.

Though precious metals did not decline nearly as much on Friday as they did a day ago, the downward pressure being levied against gold and silver is still very much apparent. As we move ever closer to the December FOMC meeting, scheduled for the 16th of the month, investors will be in constant debate whether QE will be wound down this time around or not.

November Jobs Data

While there were plenty of economic happenings going on both in the US and around the world this week, no piece of economic data was valued by investors more highly than today’s employment report for November. Though market expectations were that closer to 175,000 non-farm payrolls were added in November, actual figures showed that over 200,000 payrolls were added. If you are looking for an exact number, the US Labor Department tallied the total non-farm payroll growth in November to be 204,000. This dropped the unemployment rate to an even 7%, its lowest point since 2008.

The market immediately responded to the better than expected jobs data by ridding themselves of their precious metals holdings as well as their risk-averse attitudes. In the immediate wake of November’s jobs data gold fell to a new 5-month low, but that dip was short-lived due to a large number of bargain-hunters hitting the market.

With this month’s FOMC policy meeting less than two weeks away, it is crunch time for investors who have been speculating over the possible timing of QE tapering for the past half year. Even though the possibility of tapering was present at the last 3 or four FOMC meetings, this meeting has a different feel about it. Proponents of a more immediate tapering will say that recent economic data is indicative of the overall strength of the US economy, while adversaries to immediate tapering will look at the upcoming budget and debt ceiling deadlines as reasons not to taper. Regardless of the speculation, however, we will find out much more about the future of monetary policy in the United States a week from this upcoming Monday.