Gold prices broke past the $1,100 per ounce mark for the first time on Friday as a dismal jobs report led traders to the safety investment.

December-stamped gold rose to $1,095.70, up $6.40 on the session. Prices reached as high as $1,101.90 earlier in the session.

The unemployment rate jumped to a 26-year-high of 10.2 percent in October from an unrevised 9.8 percent in September. The unemployment rate had been expected to show a more modest increase to 9.9 percent.

The Labor Department report showed that non-farm payroll employment fell by 190,000 jobs in October following a revised decrease of 219,000 jobs in September. Economists had expected a decrease of about 175,000 jobs compared to the loss of 263,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

In other economic news, the Commerce Department's wholesale inventories report is due to be released at 10 a.m. ET. Inventories at the end of September are expected to have declined by 1 percent.

The dollar traded near its overnight levels against the euro after some early volatility. The greenback also returned early gains versus the pound.

There is no major economic news due on Monday and the calendar is on the light side for the week. Import and export prices and consumer sentiment data headline the slate late in the week.