U.S. Treasury yields ticked higher on Thursday as investors weighed the latest economic data and considered the implications it may have for Federal Reserve monetary policy.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury increased by more than 2 basis points to 4.381%. The 2-year Treasury yield was last at 4.797% after rising by 6 basis points.

Yields and prices move in opposite directions and one basis point equals 0.01%.

Bond yields edged higher Thursday morning after last week's jobless claims came in around consensus and import prices for April surged 0.9%, higher than the 0.3% consensus estimate, according to Dow Jones.

Investors digested the latest inflation data, which they were hoping would provide fresh hints about the path ahead for Federal Reserve monetary policy.

Consumer price index data released Wednesday rose 0.3% in April from the previous month, which was just below the 0.4% estimate from economists surveyed by Dow Jones. On an annual basis, the CPI increased 3.4% as expected.

Signs of easing prices were welcomed by investors, who have been hoping for signs that inflation could move closer to the Fed's 2% target and spur the central bank to cut interest rates.

Policymakers have said rates would only be cut once data shows that inflationary pressures are cooling sustainably. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell earlier this week said the central bank would need to be patient as inflation has remained higher than expected.

Powell's comments came after the producer price index, which tracks wholesale prices, came in higher than expected on Tuesday, reflecting a 0.5% increase on a monthly basis in April.