Federal Reserve officials: Bond yields spike may allow central bank to leave rates
Two Federal Reserve officials have suggested that the central bank may leave interest rates unchanged at its next meeting in three weeks WASHINGTON -- Two Federal Reserve officials suggested Monday that the central bank may leave interest rates unchanged at its next meeting in three weeks because a surge in long-term interest rates has made borrowing more expensive and could help cool inflation without further action by the Fed. Since late July, the yield, or rate, on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note has jumped from around 4% to about 4.8%, a 16-year high. The run-up in the yield has inflated other borrowing costs and raised the national average 30-year mortgage rate to 7.5%, according to Freddie Mac, a 23-year high. Business borrowing costs have also risen as corporate bond yields have accelerated. Philip Jefferson, vice chair of the Fed's board and a close ally of Chair Jerome Powell, said in a speech Monday to the National Association for Business Economics that he would “remain ...