Treasury Yields Rise

Published February 20, 2026

Treasury yields rose early in the week as investors reviewed the minutes from the Federal Reserve’s latest meeting which revealed a consensus on holding rates steady. Yields increased later in the week as markets reacted to the latest unemployment data which provided a positive outlook for the labor market.

On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve released the minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee’s (FOMC) latest meeting, where Fed officials agreed to keep interest rates unchanged at 3.50% to 3.75%. At the meeting, policymakers were largely in agreement regarding holding rates steady in January but were split on whether any further interest rate adjustments will be needed if inflation remains elevated.

“Some participants commented that it would likely be appropriate to hold the policy rate steady for some time as the Committee carefully assesses incoming data, and a number of these participants judged that additional policy easing may not be warranted until there was clear indication that the progress of disinflation was firmly back on track,” the FOMC minutes said.

The benchmark 10-year Treasury note yield opened the week of February 17 at 4.05% and traded as high as 4.11% on Thursday. The 30-year Treasury bond opened the week at 4.70% and traded as high as 4.74% on Thursday.

On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Labor reported that initial claims for unemployment decreased by 23,000 to 206,000 for the week ending February 14, below economists’ expectations of 225,000. Continuing claims increased by 17,000 to 1.87 million.

“We appear to be in a low hire, low fire environment which is unusual, but it also shows that the economy is not falling off a cliff,” said chief investment officer at Northlight Asset Management, Chris Zaccarelli.

The 10-year Treasury note yield finished the week of February 17 at 4.09% while the 30-year Treasury note yield finished the week at 4.73%.