Interest rates rise at weekly US Treasury bill auction; 6-month bills highest in over a month

Interest rates on short-term Treasury bills rose in Monday's auction with rates on six-month bills reaching their highest level in over a month.

The Treasury Department auctioned $26 billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 0.020 percent, up from 0.015 percent last week. Another $26 billion in six-month bills was auctioned at a discount rate of 0.085 percent, up from 0.065 percent last week.

The three-month rate was the highest since three-month bills averaged 0.025 percent on Jan. 20. The six-month rate was the highest since those bills averaged 0.110 percent on Jan. 5.

The discount rates reflect that the bills sell for less than face value. For a $10,000 bill, the three-month price was $9,999.49, while a six-month bill sold for $9,995.70. That would equal an annualized rate of 0.020 percent for the three-month bills and 0.086 percent for the six-month bills.

Separately, the Federal Reserve said Monday that the average yield for one-year Treasury bills, a popular index for making changes in adjustable-rate mortgages, was 0.21 percent last week, up from 0.17 percent last week.