By Millie Munshi Nov. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Copper prices declined after a report showed the U.S. jobless rate climbed to a 26-year high as employers cut back more than forecast, raising demand concerns. Companies slashed 190,000 positions from their payrolls last month, the Labor Department reported. That topped the 175,000 median forecast of 84 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. Copper futures gained earlier as the dollar slid as much as 0.3 percent against a basket of six major currencies, spurring inflation concerns, and gold surged to a record. “The big question right now is: Is the recovery going to be as strong as people were anticipating?” said Gijsbert Groenewegen, a partner at Gold Arrow Capital Management in New York. Currency rates also will be a “key factor” for copper prices, he said. Copper futures for December delivery slipped 0.45 cent, or 0.2 percent, to $2.9525 a pound on the New York Mercantile Exchange’s Comex unit. The metal lost 0.1 percent this week, the second straight decline. “The jump in unemployment will hurt confidence and thus spending, which will weigh on metals demand,” said David Thurtell, a Citigroup Inc. analyst in London. Earlier, copper rose as much as 1.6 percent as the sliding dollar boosted the appeal of commodities as alternative assets. The U.S. Dollar Index, the six-currency basket, was little changed at 75.793 at 2:06 p.m. in New York, after earlier rising as much as 0.3 percent. On the London Metal Exchange, copper for delivery in three months dropped $41, or 0.6 percent, to $6,490 a metric ton ($2.94 a pound). Among other LME-traded metals, aluminum, zinc, tin, nickel and lead fell.

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