Treasury Yields Hold Steady on Last Trading Day of 2020

Treasury yields were flat on Thursday, the last trading day of 2020, as investors assessed new data on the labor market and the status of a fresh coronavirus stimulus package.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note was little changed at 0.925%, while the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond was also flat at 1.662%. Yields move inversely to prices. The 10-year yield had topped 0.95% during the previous session.

The number of first-time unemployment-benefits filers totaled 787,000 for the week ending Dec. 26, the Labor Department said Thursday. Economists polled by Dow Jones were expecting a print of 828,000. However, the number remained well above pre-pandemic levels.

"The number of those filing this week are still worse than any single week during the Great Recession over a decade ago," Chris Rupkey, chief financial economist at MUFG, said in a note. "The recession battle is not over as this year ends with millions and millions of jobless workers left behind."

Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday blocked an attempt to unanimously pass a bill to increase direct payments in the year-end coronavirus relief package to $2,000.

McConnell faces pressure to act after the House — with nearly all Democrats and a few dozen Republicans on board — voted Monday to increase the cash deposits to $2,000 from $600.

Senate Republicans wary of spending more on pandemic aid are looking for a way to both meet the demands of a president who called the year-end coronavirus relief and funding bill a disgrace and hold on to their majority during races overshadowed by the crisis.