Rates on US Treasury bills drop to lowest since January

WASHINGTON (AP) — Interest rates on short-term Treasury bills fell in Monday's auction to their lowest levels since January.

The Treasury Department auctioned $28 billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 0.235 percent, down from 0.300 percent last week. Another $24 billion in six-month bills was auctioned at a discount rate of 0.385 percent, down from 0.475 percent last week.

The three-month rate was the lowest since those bills averaged 0.215 percent on Jan. 11. The six-month rate was the lowest since those bills averaged 0.370 percent on Jan. 19.

The discount rates reflect that the bills sell for less than face value. For a $10,000 bill, the three-month price was $9,994.06, while a six-month bill sold for $9,980.54. That would equal an annualized rate of 0.238 percent for the three-month bills and 0.391 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 0.62 percent last week from 0.64 percent the previous week.