Rates on US Treasury bills rise at weekly auction

WASHINGTON (AP) - Interest rates on short-term Treasury bills rose in Monday's auction to the highest levels in four weeks.
The Treasury Department auctioned $30 billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 0.085 percent, up from 0.075 percent last week. Another $27 billion in six-month bills was auctioned at a discount rate of 0.140 percent, up from 0.130 percent last week.
The three-month rate was the highest since these bills averaged 0.095 percent on May 14. The six-month rate was the highest since these bills averaged 0.145 percent, also on May 14.
The discount rates reflect that the bills sell for less than face value. For a $10,000 bill, the three-month price was $9,997.85 while a six-month bill sold for $9,992.92. That equals an annualized rate of 0.086 percent for the three-month bills and 0.142 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, edged down to 0.18 percent last week from 0.19 percent the previous week.
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