WASHINGTON — Interest rates on short-term Treasury bills fell in Monday's auction to their lowest levels in four weeks.
The Treasury Department auctioned $24 billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 0.030 percent, down from 0.040 percent last week. Another $24 billion in six-month bills was auctioned at a discount rate of 0.110 percent, down from 0.130 percent last week.
The three-month rate was the lowest since those bills averaged 0.025 percent on Dec. 8. The six-month rate was the lowest since those bills averaged 0.090 percent, also on Dec. 8.
The discount rates reflect that the bills sell for less than face value. For a $10,000 bill, the three-month price was $9,999.24, while a six-month bill sold for $9,994.44. That would equal an annualized rate of 0.030 percent for the three-month bills and 0.112 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 0.25 percent last week from 0.27 percent the previous week.
