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By Bloomberg

Gold dropped for a second day to trade near a three-week low before the release of monthly data on U.S. employment that will provide clues on the outlook for borrowing costs in the world’s largest economy. Silver declined.

Bullion for immediate delivery was 0.1 percent lower at $1,183.66 an ounce at 12:05 p.m. in Singapore, according to Bloomberg generic pricing. The metal declined as much as 1.1 percent to $1,179.65 on Wednesday, the lowest level since May 11. Prices in Shanghai fell to a one-month low.

Gold is little changed this year as investors pored over U.S. data for clues on when the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates for the first time since 2006. The report on Friday is expected to show a pickup in the jobs market after data on Wednesday showed companies added more workers in May from a month earlier. An expanding economy gives policy makers more room to raise rates, which curb gold’s appeal as it generally offers returns only through price gains.

Gold was “put under pressure after the release of improving U.S. economic data,” James Steel, an analyst at HSBC Securities (USA) Inc., wrote in a note.

The June 5 jobs report will probably show employers added 226,000 staff in May compared with 223,000 a month earlier, according to the median of estimates in a Bloomberg survey. The unemployment rate is set to hold at 5.4 percent, the lowest since May 2008, the survey showed.

Gold for August delivery fell 0.1 percent to $1,183.90 an ounce on the Comex as the dollar climbed for the first time in three days. Assets in bullion-backed exchange-traded products extended a decline on Wednesday to the lowest level since 2009.

Bullion of 99.99 percent purity slid 0.5 percent to 236.40 yuan a gram ($1,185.72 an ounce) on the Shanghai Gold Exchange, paring a drop earlier to 235.80 yuan, the lowest since April 27.

Silver for immediate delivery lost 0.2 percent to $16.4998 an ounce, near a three-week low. Platinum added 0.1 percent to $1,105.20 an ounce, while palladium traded at $759.20 an ounce.