Aug. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Gold fell for the first time in three days after an unexpected increase in weekly U.S. jobless claims sent the dollar higher, eroding demand for bullion as an alternative investment. Silver was little changed. The dollar rose as much as 0.3 percent against a basket of six major currencies before retreating. Gold climbed 1 percent in the previous two days as the greenback dropped by the same amount. Gold fell “in anticipation of some dollar strength because the jobs data was worse than expected,” said Walter de Wet, an analyst at Standard Bank Ltd. in London. Gold futures for December delivery dropped $3.10, or 0.3 percent, to $941.70 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Silver futures for September delivery settled at $13.913 an ounce. The metal has gained 23 percent this year, while gold climbed 6.5 percent. Gold for immediate delivery fell 92 cents, or 0.1 percent, to $941.13 at 2:40 p.m. New York time. Spot silver climbed 8 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $13.91. U.S. equities gained for a third day, and some analysts forecast gold will rally in tandem with stocks. “Once equities rebound and margins are returned, this new money is then in place to buy gold again,” said Bernard Sin, the head of currency and metals trading at MKS Finance SA in Geneva. The dollar “will continue to weaken and lead to higher gold prices,” he said. The metal also may get a boost from accelerating inflation. “The potential outcome of the unprecedented global fiscal stimulus, quantitative easing and increased money supply is broad currency devaluation, negative real interest rates and the return of high rates of inflation,” Investec Asset Management said in a report. “Such an outcome would be likely to generate investor demand for precious metals as a store of value.”

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