U.S. government debt prices were lower on Thursday as investors digested the release of a host of data — the last big blast before the U.S. Federal Reserve meets next week.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note sat slightly lower at 1.7047 percent, while the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond was higher, at 2.4807 percent.
Reuters reported that in the early afternoon the five-year, 30-year yield curve steepened to 129.70 basis points, it steepest level since June 27.
Initial jobless claims came in at 260,000, slightly below expectations, while August PPI came in unchanged, missing expectations. Retail sales for August missed expectations, falling more than expected. Meanwhile, industrial production fell 0.4 percent in August, more than the expected 0.3 percent slide. Business inventories for July came in unchanged versus an estimated rise of 0.1 percent.
Treasurys
Thursday's data deluge was the last before the Fed's policymaking committee begins its two-day meeting on monetary policy. Investors have been closely looking at economic data, evaluating the possibility the central bank raises interest rates. Market expectations for a rate hike this month are just 12 percent after Thursday's data release, according to the CME Group's FedWatch tool.
"The economic data today was just atrocious and the economy seems to be unable to sustain without the central bank support. If this is the case, this could become a serious problem for the Fed and they can soon start paddling backwards. Going forward the number which we will be watching more closely will be the US CPI and consumer sentiment data due tomorrow and this is the last set of important number which the Fed will receive before they meet next week," Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at Think Markets, said in a note to clients.
— CNBC's Patti Domm contributed to this report