(New throughout, updates prices, market activity and comments, adds data) By Karen Brettell NEW YORK, Aug 27 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury yields fell on Friday after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell gave no new hints on when the U.S. central bank is likely to begin paring bond purchases, leading investors to assume a taper is unlikely until later in the year. The U.S. economy keeps making progress toward the Fed"s benchmarks for reducing pandemic-era emergency programs, Powell said, but he stopped short of signaling the timing for any policy shift. Powell made the comments virtually at the Fed’s annual Jackson Hole, Wyoming, economic symposium. "The market liked it, and they liked it because its part and parcel of this wait and see approach that Powell has adopted," said David Petrosinelli, senior trader at InspereX in New York. "I think basically what he did is effectively push it off to later in the fourth quarter, rather than at the end of the third quarter in September." Benchmark 10-year notes fell to 1.322%, down from around 1.341% before Powell"s comments were released. The yields briefly reached a two-week high of 1.375% on Thursday. Minutes from the Fed"s July meeting released last week showed that the bulk of the bank"s policy-setting committee expect the Fed will start trimming its bond-buying program later this year. Concerns about the spread of the Delta coronavirus, however, have raised concerns that the jobs rebound may slow. "I think the message is clear for Treasuries it"s status quo and watch the data," said Gennadiy Goldberg, an interest rate strategist at TD Securities in New York. "If we get a very strong payrolls report for example next month it could suggest that tapering could happen sooner. If the data starts to moderate, and not just the payrolls, on inflation, on activity, we could actually see the Fed move a little bit later," Goldberg said. Data on Friday showed that U.S. consumer spending slowed in July as a decline in motor vehicle purchases due to shortages offset a rise in outlays on services, supporting views that economic growth will moderate in the third quarter. A separate report showed U.S. consumer sentiment declined in August to its lowest level in nearly a decade, with further deterioration in consumer views of their financial prospects. August 27 Friday 11:05AM New York / 1505 GMT Price Current Net Yield % Change (bps) Three-month bills 0.0525 0.0532 0.000 Six-month bills 0.0525 0.0532 0.002 Two-year note 99-205/256 0.2249 -0.014 Three-year note 99-214/256 0.4309 -0.021 Five-year note 99-178/256 0.8123 -0.031 Seven-year note 100-28/256 1.1087 -0.027 10-year note 99-84/256 1.3222 -0.022 20-year bond 98-68/256 1.8544 -0.016 30-year bond 101-180/256 1.9249 -0.016 DOLLAR SWAP SPREADS Last (bps) Net Change (bps) U.S. 2-year dollar swap 8.25 -0.50 spread U.S. 3-year dollar swap 11.50 0.25 spread U.S. 5-year dollar swap 8.00 0.25 spread U.S. 10-year dollar swap 1.25 0.25 spread U.S. 30-year dollar swap -27.25 0.50 spread (Additional reporting by Karen Pierog; Editing by Steve Orlofsky and Jonathan Oatis) Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.