New York gold futures topped $1,100 an ounce for the first time ever as investors continued to funnel funds into safe-haven gold amid the slumping world economy.

Most-active gold for December delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange's Comex division climbed to $1,101.90 before ending at $1,095.70, up $6.40 and a record closing high. The contract ended higher for five days in a row.

The benchmark contract reached the $1,100 mark about one year and eight months after it topped $1,000 for the first time in March 2008.

Traders' anxiety over the U.S. economy heightened after a government report showed earlier in the day that the jobless rate for October spurted to 10.2 percent, the highest in 26 years and six months.

The job report prompted traders to shift their funds to gold and other safe-haven assets, market analysts said.

Traders also stepped up buying gold amid speculation that some central banks will build up gold reserves following the Indian central bank's purchase earlier this week of 200 tons of gold from the International Monetary Fund.