The 2-year Treasury yield ticked higher Friday as investors looked to the October jobs report for hints about whether the labor market is easing, and digested the outlook for interest rates.
The yield on the 2-year Treasury was up by 1 basis point at 4.985%. Meanwhile, the 10-year Treasury yield was down by 2 basis point at 4.645%. Throughout the week, the benchmark Treasury yield has come off recent highs that at times saw it trade above the 5% mark.
Yields and prices move in opposite directions. One basis point equals 0.01%.
October’s jobs report is due Friday, with economists surveyed by Dow Jones expecting nonfarm payrolls to have risen by 170,000, up from 336,000 in September. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate is expected to remain stable at 3.8%.
The data comes after ADP reported earlier this week that private sector payrolls increased by 113,000 in October, which marked an increase from the previous month but was lower than expected.
Investors are hoping for the data to suggest an easing of the jobs market, as this would be an indication that the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy approach of hiking interest rates is having the desired effect.
The Fed left interest rates unchanged after its meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday this week. This was the second consecutive meeting at which the central bank did not hike interest rates, prompting hopes among investors that the Fed could be done with it’s rate-hiking cycle that began in early 2022.
The option for further rate hikes was, however, left on the table by Fed Chairman Jerome Powell in remarks he gave during a press conference following the meeting.
