Treasury Yields Rise

Published May 22, 2026

Treasury yields varied throughout the week as investors digested the minutes from the Federal Reserve’s latest meeting which revealed a possibility of an interest rate hike. Yields moved higher later in the week as the latest unemployment data showed the labor market remains resilient.

On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve released the minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee’s (FOMC) April meeting, where Fed officials agreed to keep interest rates unchanged at 3.50% to 3.75%. The minutes showed that policymakers were divided on the future path of monetary policy, with several officials concerned that persistent inflation could require future rate increases if inflation does not move back toward the Fed’s 2% target.

“A majority of participants highlighted, however, that some policy firming would likely become appropriate if inflation were to continue to run persistently above 2%. To address this possibility, many participants indicated that they would have preferred removing the language from the postmeeting statement that suggested an easing bias regarding the likely direction of the Committee’s future interest rate decisions,” the FOMC minutes said.

The benchmark 10-year Treasury note yield opened the week of May 18 at 4.60% and traded as high as 4.69% on Wednesday. The 30-year Treasury bond opened the week at 5.12% and traded as high as 5.20% on Wednesday.

On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Labor reported that initial claims for unemployment fell by 3,000 to 209,000 for the week ending May 16, lower than economists’ expectations of 213,000 claims. Continuing claims increased by 6,000 to 1.78 million. 

"We still cannot rule out some spillover effects from the war and the spike in oil prices on to the labor market, which we have always expected would come with a lag," said senior U.S. economist at Oxford Economics, Matthew Martin. "But for now, we think the labor market is showing enough stability to allow the Fed to feel comfortable keeping policy steady."

The 10-year Treasury note yield finished the week of 5/18 at 4.56% while the 30-year Treasury note yield finished the week at 5.07%.