It's been a challenging year for dividend stocks in sectors and industries (e.g., real estate investment trusts [REITs] and utilities) traditionally known for providing low volatility and market-topping income. The culprit for this poor performance is the hawkish Federal Reserve.

In an effort to combat historically high inflation that briefly surpassed an annualized rate of 9% in June 2022, the nation's central bank has raised its federal funds rate at the fastest pace in more than four decades. Aside from increasing borrowing costs, it's also had a marked impact on Treasury yields.

As recently as two years ago, Treasury bills set to mature in four weeks to one year were yielding around 0.05% to 0.10%. As of the closing bell on Nov. 24, T-bills were sporting yields ranging from 5.284% for the one-year bill to as much as 5.477% for six-month bills.

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Source Fool.com