By Vivien Lou Chen
U.S. government debt rates rose on Friday, pushing 10- and 30-year Treasury yields back to their highest levels since late November, after data showed the economy created many more jobs than expected. last month.
What happened
The yield on the 2-year Treasury bond BX:TMUBMUSD02Y rose 8.9 basis points to 4.730%, from 4.641% on Thursday. Friday's level is the highest since March 18, according to 3 p.m. ET figures from Dow Jones Market Data. The yield on the 10-year Treasury bond BX:TMUBMUSD10Y jumped 6.9 basis points to 4.377%, from 4.308% on Thursday. The yield on the 30-year Treasury bond BX:TMUBMUSD30Y rose 6.1 basis points to 4.531%, from 4.470% on Thursday. Friday's levels were the highest for 10- and 30-year rates since Nov. 27. For the week, the 2-year rate advanced 11.2 basis points and the 10-year yield rose 18.5 basis points, the largest weekly increases since the period. which ended on March 15. The 30-year bond rose 19.4 basis points this week, the biggest weekly jump since the period ending October 20.
What drove the markets?
Data released Friday showed the United States created a whopping 303,000 jobs last month, or about 50% more than the median estimate of economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal, who expected an increase of 200,000. The increase was the largest in more than a year. Meanwhile, hourly wages rose a relatively modest 0.3%, with wage growth over the past year slowing from 4.3% to 4.1%.
Friday's sell-off of U.S. government debt was accompanied by concerns, ahead of next Wednesday's March consumer price index, that further progress in the annual inflation rate may not be seen for months.
What analysts say
"March payrolls once again defied expectations and posted the third major bullish surprise in a row," said David Page, head of macroeconomic research at London-based AXA Investment Managers. The report "is not the be-all and end-all of the Fed's planned easing." cycle," he wrote in a note. "However, the still-solid state of the labor market would likely lead the Federal Reserve to consider it [has] "More time to consider policy easing, and we think a slowdown from here is likely to be necessary for the Fed to taper in June."
-Vivien Lou Chen
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04-05-24 1547ET
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