U.S. inflation eased in June even more than economists had expected, extending a recent slowdown in price increases and boosting investors’ hopes that the Federal Reserve could soon start cutting interest rates. The consumer-price index, a measure of goods and services costs across the economy, rose 3.0% from a year earlier, the Labor Department said Thursday, and fell 0.1% since May. Core prices, which exclude volatile food and energy items, climbed 3.3% over the previous 12 months...