U.S. Treasury yields fell on Thursday after jobless claims came in higher than expected amid a worsening coronavirus pandemic.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note slipped to 0.849%, while the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond fell to 1.575%. Yields move inversely to prices.
Jobless claims totaled 742,000 last week, ahead of the 710,000 estimate from economists surveyed by Dow Jones, according to the Labor Department. That total also represented an acceleration from the previous week's total of 709,000.
The decline in yields came also as confirmed deaths from the coronavirus in the U.S. surpassed a quarter of a million, at 250,537, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
A handful of states and cities in the U.S. are closing nonessential businesses, limiting public and private gatherings and imposing mask mandates to try to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
There was reportedly weak demand for the sale of $27 billion sale 20-year bonds on Wednesday, which briefly prompted yields to rise.
Money Report
Loretta Mester, president of the Cleveland Federal Reserve, is due to speak at 10:30 a.m. and 2:35 p.m. ET on Thursday.
Auctions will be held on Thursday for $30 billion worth of 4-week bills and $35 billion of 8-week bills, as well as $12 billion of 9-year 8-month Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities.
— CNBC staff contributed to this article.