The price of gold surpassed $4,000 on Tuesday, Oct. 7 for the first time ever as the government entered its seventh day of a partial shutdown .

Gold futures were trading at $4,006 around 11 a.m. ET before slipping under the benchmark but quickly recovered. The commodity is up 50% year to date.

Gold has continued to rise as the U.S. dollar weakens and inflation persists, according to the CME Group , an American financial services company.

The dollar is down 10% year to date. Additionally, the current rate of inflation is 2.9%, which is above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target.

Investors are worried about the potential for inflation to erode the purchasing power of the dollar, according to CME Group analysis. As a result, many are using gold to hedge their portfolios.

Why is the pric

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