10-year Treasury yield hovers near 4.00% after jobless claims decline

U.S. Treasury yields rose Thursday as Wall Street assessed weekly jobless claims data that came in below expectations, easing concern from July’s payroll report last week that the labor market was weakening.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury was around 2 basis points higher at 3.992%. The yield on the benchmark is near its highest level since last Thursday, the day before July’s disappointing jobs report sent yields diving.

The yield on the 2-year note was up nearly 5 basis points to 4.048%.

Yields and prices move in opposite directions, and one basis point equals one one-hundredth (0.01%) of a percent.

Initial claims for unemployment insurance totaled 233,000 in the latest week, below a Dow Jones estimate for 240,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Claims were down 17,000 from the previous week.

“The drop in initial filings was larger-than-anticipated and the resulting price action suggests the update is being interpreted as evidence that the labor market remains on solid footing despite the July BLS report,” said Ian Lyngen, head of U.S. rates at BMO Capital Markets, referring ton the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The weekly unemployment data arrives in what has been a shaky week for markets. Last Friday’s July jobs report fueled concerns about the strength of the U.S. economy and whether a recession is approaching.