U.S. Treasury yields ticked lower on Thursday as investors digested new labor market data.
The 2-year yield fell more than 2 basis points to 3.848%, while the 10-year Treasury yield dropped by more than 3 basis points to 4.328%. The 30-year long bond yield pulled back more than 4 basis points to 4.843%.
One basis point equals 0.01%. Yields and prices move inversely in the bond market.
The latest weekly jobless claims came in higher than expected. First-time filings for jobless benefits came in at 247,000 last week, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That’s up from 240,000 for the prior week and more than the Dow Jones estimate of 236,000.
The moves lower in yields also come after sharp declines notched Wednesday on the back of a slate of other disappointing U.S. data.
The services sector activity weakened unexpectedly in May to 49.9%, slipping just below the threshold that separates expansion from contraction and missing the Dow Jones forecast of 52.1%
Similarly, private sector payrolls increased by only 37,000 in May, falling significantly short of a Dow Jones estimate of 110,000. The disappointing figure heightened investor concerns about a weakening labor market and its potential economic fallout.
Despite the forecast misses, the latest numbers are not “so bad” as to revive fears about a recession in the world’s largest economy, Deutsche Bank wrote in a research note published Thursday.
Later this week, traders will also be keeping an eye on May’s nonfarm payrolls and unemployment rate, due out on Friday.
