Inflation Eased More Than Expected in June, to 3%

U.S. inflation eased in June even more than economists had expected, further extending a recent slowdown in price increases.

The consumer-price index rose 3.0% from a year earlier, the Labor Department said Thursday. Core prices, which exclude volatile food and energy items, climbed 3.3% over the previous 12 months and 0.1% since May.

Stock futures rose after the release. Treasury yields, which decline when bond prices rise, fell sharply, a sign that investors thought the data would increase the chances that the Federal Reserve cuts interest rates soon. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note was recently 4.198%, according to Tradeweb, down from 4.280% Wednesday.

Heading into Thursday, there have been strong signs that the economy has cooled—not enough to stir major fears of a recession but sufficient to spur a change of tone from Federal Reserve officials, who have increasingly talked about the risks of the economy slowing down too much even as inflation remains above their 2% target.