U.S. Treasury yields were lower Thursday as investors looked to economic data for hints about the outlook for the economy and monetary policy.

At 4:04 p.m. ET, the yield on the 10-year Treasury was down nearly 3 basis points at 4.288%. The 2-year Treasury yield also dropped 3 basis points at 4.714%.

Yields and prices have an inverted relationship. One basis point equals 0.01%.

The core personal consumption expenditures price index, which is the Federal Reserve's favored inflation gauge, is expected Friday. Economists polled by Dow Jones expect core PCE rose 0.1% month over month and 2.6% from the year-earlier period.

As uncertainty over the path ahead for interest rates and when they may be cut persists, investors looked to economic data for clues about what could be ahead for the economy and how this could affect monetary policy.

A flurry of economic data was released Thursday. Initial jobless claims edged lower, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Demand for long-lasting big-ticket items was better than expected. While first-quarter economic growth rose a bit, according to the Commerce Department's final GDP revision, inflation for the period also ticked up to 3.1% from 3% prior.

New orders for "durable goods," or long-lasting items such as aircraft, appliances and computers, unexpectedly increased 0.1% in May. This figure came below the downwardly revised 0.2% increase in April but better than the estimate for a 1% decline, according to the Census Bureau.

Fed officials have frequently said that their decision-making regarding interest rates will depend on inflation and whether data shows that it is easing sustainably toward the central bank's 2% target.

Fed Governor Michelle Bowman earlier this week said she was also keeping the option for a further rate hike open if progress on bringing inflation down stalled or reversed.