Rates on US Treasury bills decline at weekly auction; 3-month bills lowest since late April

Interest rates on short-term Treasury bills declined in Monday's auction with rates on three-month bills falling to their lowest level since late April.

The Treasury Department auctioned $28 billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 0.025 percent, down from 0.030 percent last week. Another $25 billion in six-month bills was auctioned at a discount rate of 0.050 percent, down from 0.055 percent last week.

The rate for three-month bills was the lowest since those bills averaged 0.020 percent on April 28. The six-month rate was the lowest since they averaged 0.045 percent on May 5.

The discount rates reflect that the bills sell for less than face value. For a $10,000 bill, the three-month price was $9,999.37 while a six-month bill sold for $9,997.47. That would equal an annualized rate of 0.025 percent for the three-month bills and 0.051 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 0.11 percent last week, unchanged from the previous week.