U.S. government debt yields held steady and were little changed Friday after the Department of Labor reported that the economy added 260,000 jobs during the month of October.
The number was strong enough to keep the Federal Reserve on track to raise rates in December, traders said. Yields dipped initially after the report because it fell short of Wall Street expectations, which had been anticipating a larger rebound after Hurricanes Harvey and Irma depressed the September jobs report.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose to around 2.345 percent at 2:44 p.m. ET, while the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond was down at 2.823 percent. Bond yields move inversely to prices.
Treasurys
Average hourly earnings were essentially unchanged for the month of October.
"You still have hurricane effects distorting the wages," said Michael Schumacher, director of rate strategy at Wells Fargo. "I wouldn't leap to any conclusions regarding this report."
The unemployment rate was 4.1 percent as labor conditions returned to normal following the storm-weakened September.
Bond traders were still assessing the new Fed Chairman nominee and what his policy on rates will be. President Donald Trump nominated Fed Governor Jay Powell as the person to take on the role as head of the Fed from February 2018. Powell will be replacing current Chair Janet Yellen when her tenure expires.
In the Federal Open Market Committee meeting this week, the policymaking body decided to hold rates steady. While Wall Street did not expect much news from the FOMC in November, there is consensus that the committee will increase rates in December for the third time this year.
In politics, House Republicans unveiled a plan Thursday to overhaul the tax code. As part of that reform package, the GOP aims to permanently lower the corporate tax rate to 20 percent. The House bill would also slash the number of income tax brackets from seven to four.
President Trump will be beginning his trip to Asia on Friday, stopping off in countries including Japan, South Korea, China and the Philippines, to strengthen the U.S.' relationship with Asian nations.
—CNBC's Christine Wang and Patti Domm contributed to this report.