U.S. government debt yields slipped on Friday after the Labor Department said the U.S. economy added more jobs than expected in April, though sluggish wages and a decline in the number of people in the labor force dampened sentiment.
Employers throughout the American economy added 263,000 jobs last month, better than the 190,000 expected and forcing the U.S. unemployment rate to 3.6%. However, average hourly earnings rose 0.2% on a month-over-month basis and held at 3.2% over the past year, a "disappointing" increase according to Ian Lyngen, head of U.S. rate strategy at BMO Capital Markets.
The labor force participation rate declined by 0.2 percentage point to 62.8% as 490,000 either left the workforce or indicated they were no longer looking for employment.
At around 4:14 p.m. ET, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves inversely to price, was lower at around 2.527%, while the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond was down at 2.919%.
"The Unemployment rate dropped to 3.6% vs. 3.8% [in] Mar; ostensibly a good thing, however the participation rate was the cause," Lyngen wrote in an email. "In light of the Fed's emphasis on inflation at this point in the cycle, we're not surprised to see the Treasury market is slightly higher following the data release."
Comments by the Federal Reserve this week have sent rates higher, with yields still slowly climbing on Friday morning.
Investors are also monitoring different speeches from Federal Reserve representatives. Chicago Fed President Charles Evans will speak at 10:15 a.m. ET and Fed Vice Chair Richard Clarida will address an audience at 11:30 a.m. ET.
—CNBC's Silvia Amaro contributed to this article.