Treasurys fell Thursday as a better-than-expected reading on unemployment and tame demand from investment banks for a $75 billion credit auction led investors to pare back their holdings in safe government securities. The Labor Department said initial claims for unemployment benefits dropped by 9,000 to 366,000 last week, which was better than most economists anticipated. Thursday's data did little to draw investors' money into stocks, though, with the four-week average of initial jobless claims rising by 1,750 to 358,000 last week ? the highest it's been since October 2005. Wall Street dipped Thursday due to hard-to-shake economic worries, as well as disappointing sales and a cautious forecast from software maker Oracle Corp.
See "Treasurys dip after drop in unemployment claims, Fed's $75 billion credit auction", Madlean Read, Minneapolis Star Tribune, March 26, 2008