(Updated in early New York morning time)
By Karen Brettell
May 2 (Reuters) -
U.S. Treasury yields rose on Friday after data showed that
employers added more jobs than economists had expected in April,
leading traders to pare back bets that the Federal Reserve will
cut rates in June.
Nonfarm payrolls increased by 177,000 jobs last month after
rising by a downwardly revised 185,000 in March. Economists
polled by Reuters had forecast an increase of 130,000 jobs. The
unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.2%.
"It's a little bit of a sigh of relief from the market's
perspective that although there's some uncertainty around what
the economic outlook is, at least for now the jobs data is
holding up," said Jim Barnes, director of fixed income at Bryn
Mawr Trust.
"It takes a little of the urgency off the table for the
Fed to have to move," Barnes said.
Investors are concerned that new tariffs enacted by U.S.
President Donald Trump's administration will slow growth and
lead to a renewed bout of inflation.
Fed officials including Chair Jerome Powell have also
expressed concerns about renewed price pressures and a still
resilient labor market will give them more room to hold rates
higher for longer.
Traders are now pricing in a 40% probability of a June
cut, down from around 58% from before the jobs report, according
to the CME Group's FedWatch Tool.
Friday's data also comes after a better than expected,
though still weak
manufacturing report
for April on Thursday that sent yields higher.
Longer-dated debt is also under pressure ahead of
auctions of the bonds next week. The Treasury will sell $58
billion in three-year notes on Monday, $42 billion in 10-year
notes on Tuesday and $25 billion in 30-year bonds on Thursday.
Benchmark 10-year Treasury yields were last at
4.299%, up from around 4.231% on Thursday. Interest rate
sensitive two-year yields were at 3.777%, up from
3.701%.
The yield curve between two- and 10-year notes
was little changed on the day at 52 basis points.