Rates Rise at Weekly US Treasury Bill Auction

Interest rates on short-term Treasury bills rose in Monday’s auction.

The Treasury Department auctioned $25 billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 0.050 percent, up from 0.045 percent last week. Another $25 billion in six-month bills was auctioned at a discount rate of 0.080 percent, up from 0.075 percent last week.

The discount rates reflect that the bills sell for less than face value. For a $10,000 bill, the three-month price was $9,998.74 while a six-month bill sold for $9,995.96. That would equal an annualized rate of 0.051 percent for the three-month bills and 0.081 percent for the six-month bills.

Separately, the Federal Reserve said that it was delaying until Tuesday a report on last week’s average yield for one-year Treasury bills, a popular index for making changes in adjustable-rate mortgages. The delay was due to federal offices being closed Monday because of snow in the Washington area.