Global bond yields have slid to their lowest levels of the year amid concern about sluggish economic growth and central bank easing in response to it.

The eurozone economy grew just 0.2 percent in the first quarter from the fourth quarter, according to official data released Thursday.

And the U.S. economy expanded at an annualized rate of just 0.1 percent in the first quarter, though a strong rebound is expected this quarter.

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"The global economy hasn't fired up despite all the heavy monetary stimulus,'' Mary Ann Hurley, vice president of trading at D.A. Davidson, told The Wall Street Journal.

In Europe, European Central Bank (ECB) officials have indicated that another stimulus move will come at its meeting next month. And in the United States, Federal Reserve officials have made clear they won't raise interest rates anytime soon.

"We continue to stay in this ultra-loose monetary-policy environment," which boosts bond prices, Jason Brady, head of fixed income at Thornburg Investment Management, told The Journal.

The yield on the 10-year German government bond, or bund, hit 1.3 percent Thursday, its lowest in a year. And the 10-year Treasury yield dropped to 2.47 percent, its lowest since Oct. 30.

"There is no reason that yields cannot head back toward 2.25 percent as a result of tame inflation and the fact that investors are too anxious over the likely timetable and extent of tightening" by Fed policy makers, Andrew Wilkinson, chief market analyst at Interactive Brokers, told the Financial Times.

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