U.S. Treasury yields pulled back on Friday after key employment data came in cooler than economists anticipated.
The yield on the 2-year Treasury slid by more than 13 basis points to 4.841%. Meanwhile, the 10-year Treasury yield was down by 9 basis points to 4.577%. Throughout the week, the benchmark Treasury yield has come off recent highs that at times saw it trade above the 5% mark.
Yields and prices move in opposite directions. One basis point equals 0.01%.
Treasurys
Nonfarm payrolls increased by 150,000 in October, while economists polled by Dow Jones expected an increase of 170,000. The unemployment rate rose to 3.9%, slightly higher than the steady 3.8% forecast.
Meanwhile, average hourly earnings increased 0.2% on the month. Hourly earnings, a key measure for the expected direction of inflation, were expected by economists to climb 0.3% month over month.
The data comes after ADP reported earlier this week that private sector payrolls increased by 113,000 in October, which marked an increase from the previous month but was lower than expected.
Investors have been looking for data suggesting an easing of the jobs market. That's because it can indicate that the Federal Reserve's monetary policy approach of hiking interest rates is having the desired effect.
The Fed left interest rates unchanged after its meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday this week. This was the second consecutive meeting at which the central bank did not hike interest rates, prompting hopes among investors that the Fed could be done with its rate-hiking cycle that began in early 2022.
The option for further rate hikes was, however, left on the table by Fed Chairman Jerome Powell in remarks he gave during a press conference following the meeting.