Rates on short-term Treasury bills rise at weekly auction

Interest rates on short-term Treasury bills rose in Monday's auction to their highest levels since last month.

The Treasury Department auctioned $48 billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 1.760 percent, up from 1.715 percent last week. Another $42 billion in six-month bills was auctioned at a discount rate of 1.945 percent, up from 1.880 percent last week.

The three-month rate was the highest since those bills averaged 1.780 percent on March 19. The six-month rate was the highest since those bills averaged 1.950 percent, also on March 19.

The discount rates reflect that the bills sell for less than face value. For a $10,000 bill, the three-month price was $9,955.11 while a six-month bill sold for $9,901.67. That would equal an annualized rate of 1.792 percent for the three-month bills and 1.992 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, stood at 2.12 percent on Friday, up from 2.08 percent at the beginning of last week on Apri 9.