Treasury Yields Fall

Published May 29, 2026

U.S. Treasury yields declined early in the week as investors assessed the latest economic conditions. Yields continued to trend lower at the end of the week as continuing claims for unemployment rose more than expected.

On Tuesday, The Conference Board reported that its consumer confidence index fell 0.7 points to 93.1 in May. This marked a decline from April’s reading of 93.8 but was higher than economists’ forecast of 92.0. The decline reflected concerns over inflation and the conflict in the Middle East, which continue to weigh on consumer sentiment.

“The prospect of higher prices and faster inflation continues to loom over confidence readings with many households taking a more cautious approach to purchases this year,” said senior economist at Nationwide Economics, Ben Ayers.

The benchmark 10-year Treasury note yield opened the week of May 26 at 4.49% and traded as low as 4.45% on Wednesday. The 30-year Treasury bond opened the week at 5.02% and traded as low as 4.99% on Wednesday.

On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Labor reported that initial claims for unemployment were 215,000 for the week ending May 23. This was up 5,000 from the prior week and above analysts’ expectations of 211,000. Continuing unemployment claims increased by 15,000 to 1.79 million.

“Initial claims are still impressively low, near historic lows,” said chief economist at High Frequency Economics, Carl Weinberg. “The uptick from last week to this week is trivial in a labor market of 159 million workers.”

The 10-year Treasury note yield finished the week of 5/26 at 4.44%, while the 30-year Treasury note yield finished the week at 4.97%.