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(Bloomberg) — Treasuries are rallying in January for a third year in a row.

U.S. government securities have gained 1.8 percent, based on the Bloomberg U.S. Treasury Bond Index. They rose 3 percent in January 2015 and 1.8 percent in January 2014, both the best monthly performances of those years.

“Every year economists are really optimistic,” said Kim Youngsung, head of overseas investment at South Korea’s Government Employees Pension Service in Seoul. “But we didn’t meet our expectations. We have a good picture, but it’s really hard to beat the target. That’s why we’ve had a Treasuries rally for the last 10 years.”

The January gains in U.S. sovereign debt are occurring in tandem with an economic downtrend in the first quarters of both of the past two years. A government report Friday will show the pace of expansion slowed to 0.8 percent in the last three months of 2015, from 2 percent in the previous period, based on a Bloomberg survey of analysts. Plunging oil and stock prices are creating additional headwinds for the economy as 2016 begins.

Benchmark U.S. 10-year note yields were little changed at 1.99 percent as of 11:41 a.m. in Tokyo, based on Bloomberg Bond Trader data. The price of the 2.25 percent security due in November 2025 was 102 11/32.

U.S. government securities have advanced every year during the past decade except 2009 and 2013, based on Bank of America Corp. data.

To contact the reporter on this story: Wes Goodman in Singapore at wgoodman@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Garfield Reynolds at greynolds1@bloomberg.net Nicholas Reynolds, Naoto Hosoda