REGION

REGION
Inflation remains steady
WASHINGTON -- Consumer prices barely budged in August, suggesting that inflation isn't currently a problem for the economy and Federal Reserve policy-makers can stick with a gradual approach to raising interest rates.
The government's closely watched inflation barometer, the Consumer Price Index, rose by just 0.1 percent in August from the previous month, the Labor Department reported Thursday.
So far this year, consumer prices are rising at a seasonally adjusted rate of 3.7 percent, compared with an increase of 1.9 percent for all of last year.
Farmers get union deal
RALEIGH, N.C. -- More than 8,000 farm workers brought to North Carolina under a federal visa program signed a deal Thursday for union representation, and the group said it would drop a years-long boycott of a major pickle company.
Mount Olive Pickle Co. also said it would increase the price it pays growers for cucumbers by more than 10 percent over three years, and the growers said they would in turn raise wages by the same amount for the workers who pick those cucumbers.
Associated Press