(Adds details about the jobs report, analyst comment)
By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss
NEW YORK, July 3 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury yields rose
on Thursday after data showed the world's largest economy
created more jobs than expected last month, supporting the
Federal Reserve's patient stance on cutting interest rates.
U.S. two-year yields, which track interest rate expectations,
rose 9.5 basis points to 3.884%, while the benchmark
10-year yield gained 4.7 bps to 4.342%.
Thursday's data showed U.S. nonfarm payrolls
increased by 147,000 jobs
last month after an upwardly revised 144,000 gain in May.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast payrolls rising
110,000 following a previously reported 139,000 gain in May.
The unemployment rate fell to 4.1% from 4.2% in May.
Economists had expected the jobless rate to tick up to 4.3%.
The odds of a July cut shrank to 6.7% after the jobs data,
from about 25% before the report's release. Chances of a
September easing also dropped to 80%, compared with 98% just
before.
"Today's stronger jobs report confirms a still resilient
U.S. labor market, defying, at least for now, the signs of
weakness seen in some leading indicators," wrote Simon Dangoor,
head of fixed Income macro strategies at Goldman Sachs Asset
Management in emailed comments.
"The FOMC's (Federal Open Market Committee) conviction that
it should hold its wait-and-see stance while it braces for an
acceleration in inflation over the summer will only be
strengthened."
The yield curve flattened after the data, with the spread
between two-year and 10-year yields at 45.4 bps
compared with 49.2 bps late Wednesday, as the bond market priced
a likely delay in Fed easing.
(Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by Alex
Richardson and Chizu Nomiyama )