US government bonds made their biggest gains of the year on Wednesday, after weak employment data spurred investor bets on an early interest rate cut from the Federal Reserve.
The two-year US Treasury yield, which is highly sensitive to interest rate expectations, fell to a low of 4.19 per cent ahead of the Fed’s policy announcement later in the day. The drop in yields — which was also felt in longer-dated debt — came after payroll processor ADP reported that US companies added just 107,000 jobs in January, fewer than forecast and down from 158,000 the previous month.
In a further sign of a cooling jobs market, US government figures showed that labour costs rose by the smallest amount since the second quarter of 2021. The labour department’s employment cost index, which tracks wages and benefits paid by private and public-sector employers, rose 0.9 per cent between September and December.