May 13 (Bloomberg) -- Treasuries rose, pushing down 30-year bond yields from the highest level in more than a week, as the euro slid and the U.S. prepared to auction $16 billion of the long bonds. Thirty-year securities advanced for the first time in five days as the euro weakened on concern countries that use it may not cut budget deficits fast enough after the European Union announced an almost $1 trillion bailout package. Today's auction is the last of three note and bond offerings this week totaling $78 billion. "There's a flight to quality because of the euro decline," said Thomas L. di Galoma, head of U.S. rates trading at Guggenheim Partners LLC, a New York-based brokerage for institutional investors. "It's in the back end because the curve is so steep. The back end is where people need duration, and it's a quicker phenomenon to grab longer duration for their portfolios." Duration is a weighted average maturity of a security's cash flows. The 30-year bond yield dropped 4 basis points, or 0.04 percentage point, to 4.44 percent at 10:24 a.m. in New York, according to BGCantor Market Data. It rose to 4.49 percent earlier, the highest level since May 4. The 4.625 percent security maturing in February 2040 gained 22/32, or $6.88 per $1,000 face amount, to 103 3/32. Ten-year yields fell 3 basis points to 3.54 percent. The difference between yields on 2- and 10-year notes, known as the yield curve, was 2.69 percentage points, compared with 2.61 percentage points a week ago. Jobless Claims Fall The number of Americans filing claims for jobless benefits dropped for a fourth straight week, data showed. Initial jobless claims fell by 4,000 to 444,000 in the week ended May 8, higher than the median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News, Labor Department data reported today in Washington. The number of people receiving unemployment insurance increased and those getting extended payments fell. The 30-year bonds scheduled for sale today yielded 4.453 percent in pre-auction trading, dropping from 4.77 percent at the last sale of the securities, on April 8. "There's still a fairly healthy structural demand for long-dated assets," said Steve Mansell, a director of interest- rate strategy at Citigroup Inc. in London. "We've had quite a concession built into the market in the long end. A yield close to 4.5 percent should attract reasonable demand." Investors bid for 2.73 times the amount of 30-year debt on offer last month, versus the 10-sale average of 2.56. Indirect bidders, the investor class that includes foreign central banks, purchased 36.8 percent of the securities, compared with an average of 39.3 percent for the past 10 sales. Direct Bidders Direct bidders, non-primary dealers that place their bids directly with the Treasury, bought 25.5 percent of the securities last month, double the 10-sale average. The EU's failure to assuage concern that some of its most indebted nations may default has boosted demand for U.S. securities. The 10-year Treasury yield dropped to 3.26 percent on May 6, the lowest since Dec. 2, from an 18-month high of 4.01 percent on April 5. --With assistance from Keith Jenkins in London. Editors: Greg Storey, James Holloway

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