NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of gold producer Newmont Mining (NEM) - Get Report were falling 5.9% to $23.80 Friday as gold prices were falling to two-month lows following the Labor Department's February jobs report.

Gold for April delivery was falling 1.8% to $1,174.30 an ounce Friday morning, the lowest levels for the commodity since Jan. 5.

Gold prices fell because the U.S. economy added more jobs than expected in February, which could lead to the Federal Reserve raising interest rates near the middle of the year, according to the Wall Street Journal. The U.S. economy added 295,000 jobs to payrolls in February, above estimates of 240,000 jobs added, causing the unemployment rate to fall to 5.5%.

"This is not good for gold," RJO Futures broker Bob Haberkorn told the Journal. "This adds fuel to the fire for the idea that the Fed will raise rates sooner rather than later."

TheStreet Ratings team rates NEWMONT MINING CORP as a Hold with a ratings score of C. TheStreet Ratings Team has this to say about their recommendation:

"We rate NEWMONT MINING CORP (NEM) a HOLD. The primary factors that have impacted our rating are mixed -- some indicating strength, some showing weaknesses, with little evidence to justify the expectation of either a positive or negative performance for this stock relative to most other stocks. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its increase in stock price during the past year, impressive record of earnings per share growth and compelling growth in net income. However, as a counter to these strengths, we find that revenues have generally been declining."

Highlights from the analysis by TheStreet Ratings Team goes as follows:

• Compared to where it was a year ago today, the stock is now trading at a higher level, reflecting both the market's overall trend during that period and the fact that the company's earnings growth has been robust. Despite the fact that it has already risen in the past year, there is currently no conclusive evidence that warrants the purchase or sale of this stock.
• NEWMONT MINING CORP reported significant earnings per share improvement in the most recent quarter compared to the same quarter a year ago. The company has demonstrated a pattern of positive earnings per share growth over the past year. We feel that this trend should continue. This trend suggests that the performance of the business is improving. During the past fiscal year, NEWMONT MINING CORP turned its bottom line around by earning $1.10 versus -$5.21 in the prior year. This year, the market expects an improvement in earnings ($1.22 versus $1.10).
• The company's current return on equity greatly increased when compared to its ROE from the same quarter one year prior. This is a signal of significant strength within the corporation. Compared to other companies in the Metals & Mining industry and the overall market on the basis of return on equity, NEWMONT MINING CORP has outperformed in comparison with the industry average, but has underperformed when compared to that of the S&P 500.
• NEM, with its decline in revenue, underperformed when compared the industry average of 2.5%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues slightly dropped by 7.8%. The declining revenue has not hurt the company's bottom line, with increasing earnings per share.
• NEM's debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65 is somewhat low overall, but it is high when compared to the industry average, implying that the management of the debt levels should be evaluated further. Regardless of the somewhat mixed results with the debt-to-equity ratio, the company's quick ratio of 1.40 is sturdy.

• You can view the full analysis from the report here: NEM Ratings Report