Treasury Yields Rise After U.S. Adds 209,000 Jobs In July, Wages Match Estimates

U.S. Treasury yields rose modestly on Friday after a the key jobs report came in better than expected. The 10-year Treasury yield rose to 2.248%, the 2-year yield , the most sensitive to shifting rate expectations, was at 1.367% , while the 30-year bond yield stood at 2.820% . Bond prices and yields move inversely. The labor-market report added an impressive 209,000 jobs in July. Over the past two months, the U.S. has added nearly 450,000 new jobs, pushing the unemployment rate down to a 16-year low of 4.3%. A healthy jobs market is seen as adding support to the Federal Reserve's push to lift interest rates and unwind a $4.5 trillion asset portfolio. Higher rates weigh on bond prices, nudging yields higher. One point that Treasury traders might view as less than stellar, average-hourly wages matched economists' expectations polled by MarketWatch for a rise of 0.3%. Rising wages are viewed as a proxy for inflation, which bond investors have mostly viewed as sluggish over the past several months. Overall, economists had expected 180,000 jobs to have been added to the U.S. economy in July.

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