Sale prices are displayed for items at a grocery store on September 10, 2024 in San Rafael, California.
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images
The yield on the 10-year Treasury yield rose Thursday as investors studied fresh inflation and jobless claims data, showing inflation rising more than expected in September while weekly claims for unemployment benefits revealed a cooler labor market.
The 10-year Treasury yield was nearly 4 basis points higher at 4.102%, while the 2-year Treasury was 2 basis points lower at 3.995%.
Yields move inversely to prices. One basis point equals 0.01%.
Treasurys were moving as investors assessed a series of economic data. The consumer price index increased 0.2% in September and 2.4% year-over-year, above economists’ estimates of a 0.1% increase on a monthly basis, and a 2.3% advance over the prior 12 months, based on a Dow Jones survey.
Jobless claims also made an unexpected advance. Initial filings for unemployment benefits rose to 258,000 for the week ending Oct. 5, the highest since August 2023.
Meanwhile, an auction of 30-year Treasury bonds is also scheduled for later in the day Thursday.
Yields had risen Wednesday as minutes from the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting in September, when the central bank lowered benchmark borrowing costs to a range of 4.75% to 5.0%, pointed to some division over the size of the rate cut.
“The Fed has shown that they’re willing to let inflation potentially run hotter than normal in favor of full employment,” said Skyler Weinand, chief investment officer at Regan Capital. “Only a rise towards 4% inflation or a few hot inflation prints in a row would alter the Fed’s course of continued rate cuts over the next year.”
Ten-year Treasury yields have recently been climbing, rising above 4% on Monday after last week’s stronger-than-expected increase in September payrolls, and following the Fed’s mid-September rate cut.
In recent days, yields hit their highest level in more than two months.
