WASHINGTON — The government says the interest rate on 6-month U.S. Treasury bills dropped to the lowest on record at a weekly auction.

The Treasury Department says the auction today saw the rate on 6-month bills drop to 0.25 percent. Heavy demand for Treasury securities by nervous investors has pushed rates to historically low levels.

While rates on 3-month bills edged up slightly, they remained close to zero. The rate for a 3-month bill rose to 0.05 percent, up from 0.04 percent last week.