Inflation rate drops to a three-year low point

WASHINGTON — Year over-year inflation reached its lowest level in more than three years in July, the latest sign that the worst price spike in four decades is fading and setting up the Federal Reserve for an interest rate cut in September.

The Labor Department report Wednesday showed consumer prices rose just 0.2% from June to July after dropping slightly the previous month.

Measured from a year earlier, prices rose 2.9%, down from 3% in June. It was the mildest gain since March 2021.

The government said almost all of July's inflation reflected higher rental prices and other housing costs, a trend that, according to real-time data, is easing.

DRUG PRICES: The Biden administration said Thursday that drug price negotiations will knock hundreds of dollars off the list prices of 10 of Medicare's most popular and costliest drugs. The discounts, agreed to after months of negotiations with drug manufacturers, range between 38% and 79% on the medication's list price

MAROONED ASTRONAUTS: NASA said this week it's still deciding if it will keep two astronauts at the International Space Station until early next year and send their troubled Boeing capsule back empty. Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams have been stuck at the station since early June.

CARIBBEAN: Tropical Storm Ernesto strengthened into a hurricane this week as it dropped torrential rain on Puerto Rico and left thousands without power or water.