A trader works on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., Dec.15, 2025. <\/p>\n
Brendan McDermid | Reuters<\/p>\n
U.S. Treasury yields were little changed on Wednesday as investors positioned for a shortened trading day ahead of the holidays. <\/p>\n
The 10-year Treasury<\/a> yield \u2014 the benchmark for U.S. government borrowing \u2014 was more than 1 basis point lower at 4.157%. The yield on\u00a0the 2-year Treasury<\/a> note\u00a0rose less than 1 basis point to 3.532%. The\u00a030-year bond<\/a>\u00a0yield slipped more than a basis point to 4.817%.<\/p>\n One basis point equals 0.01%, or 1\/100th of 1%, and yields and prices move inversely to one another.<\/p>\n On Wednesday, the Labor Department reported that jobless claims for the week ended Dec. 20 came in at 214,000<\/a>, signifying a decrease from the prior week’s 224,000 and coming in less than the Dow Jones forecast for 225,000.<\/p>\n Investors continued to digest delayed Commerce Department data that showed the U.S. economy grew<\/a> by 4.3% in the third quarter \u2014 its fastest pace in two years. However, the stronger-than-expected number reported Tuesday potentially complicates the Federal Reserve’s path on interest rates.<\/p>\n National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett \u2014 one of the leading contenders to succeed Jerome Powell as Fed chair next year \u2014 told CNBC<\/a> that the Fed remains “way behind the curve” on rate cuts compared with other countries’ central banks, and is not lowering rates quickly enough.<\/p>\n