what is a 10 year treasury note 
the 10 year treasury note is a debt obligation issued by the u s government with a maturity of 10 years upon initial issuance a 10 year treasury note pays interest at a fixed rate every six months and pays the face value to the holder at maturity the u s government partially funds itself by issuing these notes understanding 10 year treasury notesthe u s government issues three types of debt securities to fund its obligations treasury bills treasury notes and treasury bonds bills bonds and notes are distinguished by their length of maturity treasury bills t bills have the shortest lengths of time to maturity one year or less the treasury offers t bills with maturities of four eight 13 26 and 52 weeks 1 treasury notes have maturities ranging from one to 10 years 2 bonds are treasury securities with maturities longer than 10 years 3the u s government partially funds itself by issuing 10 year treasury notes treasury notes and bonds pay interest at a fixed rate every six months to maturity they re then redeemed at par value the treasury repays the principal it borrowed t bills are issued at discounts to par and they don t have coupon payments the interest on t bills is the difference between the face value repaid at maturity and the purchase price 1the 10 year note yield as a benchmarkthe 10 year t note is the most widely tracked government debt instrument its yield is frequently used as a benchmark for other interest rates like mortgage and corporate debt commercial interest rates don t follow the 10 year yield however this chart shows a historical example of the 10 year treasury yield from march 2019 to march 2020 the yield steadily declined over this span with expectations that the federal reserve would maintain low interest rates or cut them further the decline in yield accelerated amid growing concerns about the economic effects of the covid 19 pandemic in late february 2020 the decline of the 10 year yield accelerated even further as the federal reserve ordered an emergency rate cut of 50 basis points in early march the yield dropped to a record low of 0 32 before rebounding 4image by sabrina jiang investopedia 2021the 10 year note is undoubtedly a highly significant benchmark for global financial markets a rising yield indicates investor confidence in the economy but also suggests higher borrowing costs potentially slowing economic growth conversely a falling yield may signal economic uncertainty since march 2020 the 10 year treasury yield has had significant fluctuations it hit an all time low of 0 318 amid pandemic induced market uncertainty however the low interest environment ended over the next 18 24 months with several annual peaks in 2023 the federal reserve mainly increased interest rates to curb inflation and control the soaring prices of consumer goods in early 2024 the 10 year treasury yield stood at 4 01 5