TREASURIES-Prices gain on dovish Fed, Trump uncertainty

* Fed seen on hold for near-term

* Trump uncertainty creates safety bid for bonds

* Jobs data improves, productivity worsens

By Karen Brettell

NEW YORK, Feb 2 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury prices gained on

Thursday a day after the Federal Reserve gave a more

dovish-than-expected statement, and as uncertainty over policies

from President Donald Trump increased safety buying of U.S.

debt.

The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady on Wednesday

in its first meeting since Trump took office and said job gains

remained solid, inflation had increased and economic confidence

was rising, but gave no firm signal on the timing of its next

rate move.

"People's takeaway was that the Fed has elongated their view

that they really don't have to do very much and are waiting on a

pickup of inflation over 2 percent, and they aren't really in a

hurry to raise rates," said Tom di Galoma, a managing director

at Seaport Global Holdings in New York.

Benchmark 10-year notes gained 7/32 in price to

yield 2.45 percent, down from 2.47 percent late on Wednesday.

The yields got as high as 2.52 percent before the Fed's

statement on Wednesday, as jobs and manufacturing data pointed

to accelerating economic growth.

Uncertainty over policies introduced by Trump is also

raising demand for bonds as a hedge against equity declines and

other market volatility.

"The market will continue to struggle with the uncertainty

of the new administration and where they go with new policies.

It's created a bit of flight-to-quality," said di Galoma.

Data on Thursday was mixed. U.S. worker productivity slowed

in the fourth quarter, leading to the smallest annual increase

in five years.

The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits,

however, fell more than expected last week, pointing to

tightening labor market conditions that should support the

economy this year.

Investors are focused on Friday's employment report for

January, which is expected to show that employers added 175,000

jobs in the month, according to the median of 102 economists

polled by Reuters.

(Reporting by Karen Brettel; Editing by Andrea Ricci)