Treasury yields rise as attention shifts to jobs data

U.S. Treasury yields were higher on Thursday as investors looked to the latest labor market insights and considered the state of the economy.

At 4:42 a.m. ET, the yield on the 10-year Treasury was up by over two basis points to 3.8056%. The 2-year Treasury yield was last at 3.6539% after rising by more than one basis point.

Yields and prices have an inverted relationship. One basis point equals 0.01%.

Investors assessed the state of the economy as attention turned to the latest jobs data.

Figures from ADP on Wednesday showed that private payrolls grew by more than expected in September, with private companies adding 143,000 jobs. That was above August’s growth of 103,000 and the forecast of 128,000.

The data suggested that there may be some strength left in the labor market even as there have been signs of easing. That comes ahead of weekly initial jobless claims on Thursday and the all-important September jobs report from the U.S. Labor Department’s statistics bureau on Friday. The latter includes nonfarm payrolls and the unemployment rate.

The numbers could inform the Federal Reserve in its monetary policy decision-making, especially regarding further interest rate cuts. The Fed is set to meet twice more in 2024, and earlier this week central bank Chairman Jerome Powell suggested that there could be two more cuts of 25 basis points each this year if economic data remained consistent.

Also on Thursday, ISM’s services purchasing managers’ index reading for September is expected, which will also provide hints about the state of the economy. Investors also continued to monitor developments in the Middle East after tensions in the region escalated earlier this week, leaving traders with uncertainty about how global markets could be affected.