After being prodded up to session highs by multiple U.S. economic data points, U.S. Treasury yields pared gains on Thursday.
The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits last week dropped to the lowest level since 2000, suggesting March's moderation in job growth was likely an aberration.
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits declined 34,000 to a seasonally adjusted 262,000 for the week ended April 25, the lowest reading since April 2000, the Labor Department said on Thursday.
Consumer spending in the U.S. also rose 0.4 percent in March, slightly under analyst expectations of 0.5 percent.
The Chicago PMI also came in higher than expected at 52.3. Analysts expected the number to come in at 50.0.
Benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury notes traded at 2.0399 percent after trading as high as 2.1074 percent. (Bond yields move inversely to prices.)
Treasurys
Thirty-year U.S. bond yields dropped to 2.7513 percent from an earlier high of 2.8128 percent. Five-year Treasury yields rose above 1.5 percent earlier in the session before trading at 1.4335 percent.
Government bond yields in many European countries rose on Thursday, including in Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Ireland and Belgium.
The 10-year German Bund yielded around 0.3660 percent on Thursday, after hitting a record low of 0.049 percent in intraday trading earlier this month.
No rush to hike rates
The Federal Reserve delivered a statement on Wednesday in which it removed all calendar references to raising interest rates and indicated that an interest rate hike sooner rather than later was unlikely. The central bank has kept its key funds rate anchored near zero since late-2008, in an attempt to spark the economy after the 2007-08 financial crisis.
Fed officials have indicated a desire to raise rates at some point this year, with the market now anticipating a September increase.
—Reuters contributed to this report.