Treasury yields hold steady after data on producer prices, jobless claims
2024-12-12
Category: economic

By Vivien Lou Chen and Steve Goldstein
Yields on U.S. government debt were little changed to slightly higher Thursday morning after the overall producer-price index for November came in above expectations while weekly initial jobless claims rose to the highest since mid-October.
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In data released on Thursday, the overall producer-price index for November came in at a hotter-than-expected 0.4%, double the median estimate of economists polled by the Wall Street Journal, while the narrower core reading was muted.The report came a day after the consumer-price index for the same month showed the annual headline CPI rate inched up to 2.7% from 2.6% previously.
"There are inflation 'last mile' upside concerns even setting aside risks around policy changes. Yes, core goods inflation is within its pre-Covid range, but this has been facilitated by profound strength in the real exchange rate (importing disinflation) while energy price weakness will have been an additional contributor (as a cost of production of non-energy goods)," said Bank of America analysts led by rates strategist Mark Capleton. "And an expectation that services inflation will return naturally to its pre-Covid range takes a lot on trust."
In other data released on Thursday, initial jobless claims jumped 17,000 to a two-month high of 242,000 for the week that ended on Dec. 7. Claims tend to be particularly volatile around the holidays due to seasonal adjustment.
-Vivien Lou Chen -Steve Goldstein
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