US bond yields soar on robust jobs growth
Robust US employment figures sent bond yields soaring on Friday as the labour market showed it was healthy enough for the Federal Reserve to slow its $85bn a month in asset purchases later this year.
The yield on 10-year Treasuries rose 22 basis points to 2.72 per cent – the highest since July 2011 – after payrolls rose by 195,000 in June, comfortably beating expectations. Revisions to recent data added another 70,000 jobs to the total.
The figures take average payrolls growth this year to 202,000 a month – meeting Fed chairman Ben Bernanke’s standard of “continuing gains in labour markets” for a “tapering” of quantitative easing. September is seen as the likely date for the US central bank to consider such a change.