Treasury yields rise as investors await jobless claims and housing data

U.S. Treasury bond yields rose on Thursday as investors looked ahead to data on initial filings for unemployment benefits and housing starts.

The 10-year Treasury yield was about 3 basis points higher at 4.2497%. The 2-year was up also around 3 basis points at 4.7372% at 3:20 a.m. ET.

Yields and prices move in opposite directions. One basis point is equivalent to 0.01%.

Data on initial jobless claims, housing starts and U.S. building permits are all due this morning.

Earlier this month, data revealed that the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits rose more than expected to 229,000 for the week ended June 1. Economists polled by Reuters had predicted 220,000 claims for the period.

The Federal Reserve last week held its benchmark policy rate in the 5.25% to 5.50% range, where it has been since last July. Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Neel Kashkari on Sunday told CBS’ “Face the Nation” program that he was surprised by the U.S. job market’s performance even as the Fed raised borrowing costs in 2022 and 2023.

Kashkari added that he expects more cooling. “I hope it’s modest cooling, and then we can get back down to more of a balanced economy,” he said.