By Deborah Levine, MarketWatch NEW YORK (MarketWatch) --Treasury prices briefly rose then headed back to negative territory Thursday as bond traders assessed a report showing initial claims for U.S. jobless benefits rose to 472,000 last week, up 13,000. Yields on 2-year notes (UST2YR 0.63, +0.02, +3.31%) added 2 basis points to 0.62%. The yield closed at 0.609% on Tuesday, the lowest level on record. Bond yields move inversely to prices and a basis point is 0.01%. Yields on 10-year notes (UST10Y 2.94, +0.01, +0.17%) rose 1 basis point to 2.94%. The 10-year yield closed Wednesday at the lowest level since April 2009. "After such a large run lower in yields, there are no real sellers, just a slowing down of buying, which is why yields are grinding lower," said George Goncalves, bond strategist at Nomura Securities. The jobless claims data proved disappointing, as economists surveyed by MarketWatch had expected first-time claims to fall to 455,000 on the week. Read more on jobless claims. The claims data come one day before the Labor Department's monthly report on joblessness and nonfarm payrolls, one of the most closely watched economic reports on the calendar. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch expect the government to say on Friday the economy lost 130,000 in June, including the loss of some 250,000 temporary workers hired by the Census Bureau. Still to come on Thursday's schedule are data on pending home sales, construction spending and the Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing index. The combination is "likely to add to what should be another two-way trade as positions get adjusted for nonfarm payrolls and the beginning of a new quarter," said John Spinello, strategist at Jefferies & Co.

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