Gold and silver were higher Friday morning following a weaker-than-expected April jobs report.

Spot gold was up 0.37%, bid at $1,641.90 as of 10:38 a.m., having traded as high as $1,648.50 and as low as $1,629.60 an ounce, according to Kitco market data. The London afternoon reference price was set at $1,643.75, $6 an ounce higher than Thursday’s afternoon reference price.

Spot silver was showing a 0.73% gain, bid at $30.29. The morning high as of time of writing was $30.57 and the low was $29.75. Friday’s reference price was set at $29.90 an ounce in the London a.m., 46 cents an ounce below Thursday’s price fix.

Hiring continued to slow in April with the addition of 115,000 jobs, lower even than most economists’ forecasts, which had been previously revised lower, according to the Labor Dept.’s much-anticipated April employment report. March’s new-jobs figure was revised higher, to 154,000 from 120,000, but the last two months’ results are still substantially lower than the average 252,000 monthly jobs created in the first three months of 2012. Up 1.8% from a year ago and 1 cent monthly, the average wage for all private-sector employees, at $23.38 per hour, continued below the rate of inflation.

Eurozone retail sales rose 0.3% month-to-month in March, fueled by increases in the 17-nation bloc’s biggest economies, France and Germany, according to a Eurostat report. The retail sales pickup was unexpected and provides something of a respite from the stream of gloomy economic news out of the eurozone recently. Year over year, eurozone retail sales were down 0.2%, however.,

Gold bullion prices jumped in London morning trading Friday, reaching $1,640 an ounce following the disappointing April U.S. jobs, BullionVault reported, though they remain down more than 1% on the week.

The weaker-than-expected jobs number raises the possibility of the Federal Reserve adding more liquidity to the banking system, but “currently the U.S. Taylor Rule signals that the Fed funds rate might be too low,” BullionVault quoted Marc Ground, a commodities strategist at Standard Bank, “who was referring to the idea that the Fed Funds rate should be determined by inflation and unemployment levels. Whether this is a bearish signal for precious metals in general, and gold specifically, depends on how the Fed reacts relative to what the Taylor Rule suggests.”

Gold and silver trusts again found themselves in negative territory in morning trading.

The SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE:GLD) was down around 0.2%.
The iShares Gold Trust (NYSE:IAU) was down around 0.2%.
The iShares Silver Trust (NYSE:SLV) was down some 0.25%.

Two out of three gold and silver mining ETFs were heading south, though the Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF was higher on the morning.

The Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:GDX) was showing gains of around 0.6%.
The Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:GDXJ) was down around 0.85%.
The Global X Silver Miners ETF (NYSE:SIL) was down around 1%.

Gold mining shares were broadly higher.

Agnico-Eagle Mines (NYSE:AEM) was up less than 0.1%.
Barrick Gold (NYSE:ABX) was up nearly 0.3%.
Eldorado Gold (NYSE:EGO) was up some 1.2%.
Goldcorp (NYSE:GG) was up more than 0.6%.
Kinross Gold Corp. USA (NYSE:KGC) was down nearly 0.5%.
Newmont Mining (NYSE:NEM) was around 1.2% higher.
NovaGold Resources (NYSEAMEX:NG) was some 1.35% lower.
Yamana Gold (USA) (NYSE:AUY) was up around 1.3%.

Silver mining shares were lower to close out a down week.

Coeur d’Alene Mines (NYSE:CDE) was around 0.6% lower.
Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) was around 1% lower.
Pan American Silver (NASDAQ:PAAS) was showing losses of around 0.2%.
Silver Wheaton (NYSE:SLW) was down around 0.8%.
Silver Standard Resources (NASDAQ:SSRI) was down some 1.85%.

As of this writing, Andrew Burger did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. Adrian Ash of BullionVault contributed to this report.