NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Treasury yields turned lower on Friday after U.S. government data showed weaker-than-expected job growth in January and a rise in the unemployment rate.
Yields on benchmark 10-year notes (10_YEAR) dropped 3 basis points to 1.964% after the Labor Department said the economy created 157,000 jobs in January and the jobless rate rose to 7.9%.
Economists surveyed by MarketWatch expected an increase of 170,000 jobs last month, with the unemployment rate dipping to 7.7% from 7.8%
Before the jobs data, 10-year yields had traded up 3 basis points at 2.02%.
Treasury prices move inversely to yields. A basis point is one one-hundredth of a percentage point.
Yields on 30-year bonds (30_YEAR) dropped 1 basis point to 3.160%; they had traded at 3.19% before the jobs report.
Five-year yields (5_YEAR) declined 3 basis points to 0.85%.
