WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - After moving sharply higher over the past several sessions, treasuries showed a substantial move back to the downside during trading on Friday.
Bond prices plunged in early trading and saw some further downside during the morning before moving roughly sideways in the afternoon. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, skyrocketed 17.0 basis points to 4.033 percent.
The ten-year yield closed higher for the first time this week, bouncing well off its lowest closing level in a month.
The sell-off by treasuries came following the release of a closely watched Labor Department report showing much stronger than expected job growth in the month of January.
The Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment spiked by 353,000 jobs in January compared to economist estimates for an increase of about 180,000 jobs.
The report also showed significantly stronger than previously reported job growth in December, with employment surging by 333,000 jobs during the month compared to the jump of 216,000 jobs that had been reported.
Meanwhile, the Labor Department said the unemployment rate in January came in unchanged from the previous month at 3.7 percent. Economists had expected the unemployment rate to inch up to 3.8 percent.
The report also said the annual rate of wage growth inched up to 4.5 percent in January from an upwardly revised 4.4 percent in December.
Economists had expected wage growth to come in unchanged compared to the 4.1 percent originally reported for the previous month.
The data has further eroded the chances the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates in March, with CME Group's FedWatch Tool currently indicating just a 20.5 percent of a rate cut.
Following a week full of key economic events, the U.S. economic calendar for next week is relatively quiet. Traders are still likely to keep an eye on reports on weekly jobless claims, service sector activity and the U.S. trade deficit.
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