Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange on Thursday dropped for the fifth session out of six, as better-than-expected U.S. economic data reinforced the case for the Federal Reserve to scale back its economic stimulus.

The most active gold contract for December delivery lost 17 dollars, or 1.22 percent, to settle at 1,373 dollars per ounce. Market analysts say stronger U.S. economic data are getting the market jittery again, and the strength in the U.S. dollar is also working against gold.

Automatic Data Processing Inc. said that U.S. private-sector jobs increased by 176,000 in August, slightly below expectations, according to reports. Initial weekly jobless claims came in at 323, 000, below forecasts for 330,000 claims, while the second-quarter U.S. productivity rose 2.3 percent, up sharply from a first read of 0.9 percent.

The U.S. service sector companies expanded in August, with the Institute for Supply Management reporting that its survey of purchasing managers climbed to 58.6 percent from 56.0 percent in July, MarketWatch says. The U.S. dollar strengthened in the wake of Thursday's data.

A stronger U.S. dollar tends to weigh on prices for dollar- denominated commodities such as gold and lures some investors away from the precious-metal market. Silver for December delivery fell 16 cents, or 0.68 percent, to close at 23.255 dollars per ounce.