U.S. Treasury yields climbed on Friday, as investor attention turns to April’s jobs report, due out later in the morning.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note advanced to 1.575% at 7 a.m. ET. The yield on the 30-year Treasury bond rose to 2.247%. Yields move inversely to prices.
The Labor Department is due to publish April’s jobs report at 8:30 a.m. ET. Economists polled by Dow Jones expect 1 million payrolls to have been added last month and the unemployment rate is expected to have fallen to 5.8% from 6%.
April’s jobs report is key as it will show the state of recovery in the labor market, with the Federal Reserve pledging to keep easy monetary policy in place until employment looks strong.
Brian Nick, chief investment strategist at U.S. asset manager Nuveen, told CNBC’s “Street Signs Europe” on Friday that while there is expected to be a “huge jump” in new payrolls last month, it is important to focus on the unemployment rate.
He explained that even if the rate fell from 6% to 5.5%, it would also mean “a lot people stayed out of the labor force, either because they’re concerned about the virus, (or) because they have childcare issues surrounding school closures,” for example.
For a full economic recovery, “we’ve got to think of those 4 million people who have dropped out of labor force” since the onset of the pandemic to be re-employed “and that’s going to take a bit more time,” Nick added.
There are no auctions scheduled for Friday.
— CNBC’s Thomas Franck contributed to this report.
