In this Nov. 20, 2012 photo, fish brought to the dock at the Viking Village fishery in Barnegat Light N.J., sit atop a box of ice. U.S. wholesale prices fell for the third month in a row last month, pushed down by falling food and gas costs. The drop is the latest evidence inflation is tame. The producer price index dropped 0.2 percent in December, the Labor Department said Tuesday. That follows a decline of 0.8 percent in November.(AP Photo/Wayne Parry)

US Treasury bills rise at weekly auction

Published: 10:31:37 PM, Mon 25 February 2013 UTC

WASHINGTON (AP) — Interest rates on short-term Treasury bills rose in Monday's auction with rates on three-month Treasury bills rising to the highest level in two years.

The Treasury Department auctioned $35 billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 0.125 percent, up from 0.115 percent last week. Another $30 billion in six-month bills was auctioned at a discount rate of 0.135 percent, up from 0.130 percent last week.

The three-month rate was the highest since three-month bills averaged 0.145 percent on Feb. 28, 2011. The six-month rate was the highest since those bills averaged 0.140 percent on Dec. 3.

The discount rates reflect that the bills sell for less than face value. For a $10,000 bill, the three-month price was $9,996.84 while a six-month bill sold for $9,993.18. That would equal an annualized rate of 0.127 percent for the three-month bills and 0.137 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, rose to 0.17 percent last week from 0.15 percent the previous week.

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