Treasuries saw considerable weakness during trading on Friday, as a much better than expected jobs report led to renewed optimism about the outlook for the U.S. economy.
Bond prices moved sharply lower in early trading and remained stuck firmly in the red throughout the session. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, jumped 12.4 basis points to 1.949 percent.
The steep drop by treasuries came following the release of a report from the Labor Department showing that stronger than expected job growth in the month of January drove the unemployment rate down to its lowest level in almost three years.
The Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment jumped by 243,000 jobs in January following a revised increase of 203,000 jobs in December. Economists had expected employment to increase by about 140,000 jobs.
With the stronger than expected job growth, the unemployment rate unexpectedly fell to 8.3 percent from 8.5 percent in the previous month. The drop pulled the unemployment rate down to its lowest level since a matching number in February of 2009.
Adding to the selling pressure in the bond market, the Institute for Supply Management released a report showing that its index of activity in the service sector jumped to an eleven-month high in January.
The ISM said its non-manufacturing index rose to 56.8 in January from a revised 53.0 in December, with a reading above 50 indicating growth in the service sector. Economists had expected the index to edge up to 53.3 from the 52.6 originally reported for the previous month.
With the bigger than expected increase, the index rose to its highest level since coming in at a reading of 59.0 in February of 2011.
Following the slew of economic data that was released this week, the economic calendar for next is week is relatively light.
Nonetheless, traders are likely to keep an on the release of reports on weekly jobless claims, consumer sentiment, and the U.S. trade deficit. Trading could also be impacted by the outcome of monetary policy meetings in Europe and the U.K.
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Market Analysis
June 12, 2026 17:14 ET Major central bank action was the focus this week in economic news. The European Central Bank became the first major central bank to move in response to the rising inflationary pressures in the backdrop of the conflict in the Middle East. In North America, the U.S. inflation and trade data as well as Canada’s central bank decision gained attention. The Chinese trade data was the main news in Asia.