Treasuries rose on Thursday as investors looked to safer investments as reports released today showed signs of a weakening economy, boosting the chance that the Fed will lower borrowing costs.

The two year-note, which is more sensitive to interest rate moves, rose 3/32 in price to yield 2.109 in late afternoon trading. It was own from 2.15 in late trade Wednesday. The 10 year note rose 12/32 to yield 3.597, down from 4.36 a day earlier.

People seeking unemployment benefits surged, according to a report released today. The Labor department reported that the number of jobless claims filed grew by 69,000 to 375,000 for the week ended Jan 26.

A separate report said that personal spending grew 0.2 percent in December. However this was down from 1 percent growth in November. Economists were expecting at least twice as much personal spending at 0.4 percent.

However theirs is some uncertainty over employment as figures to be released tomorrow show gains in new jobs. Figures to be released tomorrow are expected to show that the U.S. economy added 63,000 new jobs in January, a sharp rise from 18,000 in December.

Unemployment