Rates on US Treasury Bills Rise at Weekly Auction

Interest rates on short-term Treasury bills rose in Monday’s auction to the highest levels since early July.

The Treasury Department auctioned $30 billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 0.040 percent, up from 0.030 percent last week. Another $25 billion in six-month bills was auctioned at a discount rate of 0.075 percent, up from 0.065 percent last week.

The three-month rate was the highest since these bills averaged 0.045 percent on July 8. The six-month rate was the highest since these bills averaged 0.085 percent on July 1.

The discount rates reflect that the bills sell for less than face value. For a $10,000 bill, the three-month price was $9,998.99 while a six-month bill sold for $9,996.21. That would equal an annualized rate of 0.041 percent for the three-month bills and 0.076 percent for the six-month bills.

Separately, the Federal Reserve said Monday that the average yield for one-year Treasury bills, a popular index for making changes in adjustable-rate mortgages, was unchanged at 0.11 percent last week.