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The world this week
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America’s annual inflation rate soared to 4.2% in April, higher than expected and fuelling concerns that rising consumer prices may become a problem for the American economy. Inflation hawks blame the huge amounts of stimulus injected into the economy and a boom in consumer demand (prices for used cars were up by a fifth, year on year). Global supply bottlenecks are also pushing up costs for manufacturers. The Biden administration, however, thinks inflationary pressures are temporary and will ease later this year.
美国4月份的年通货膨胀率飙升至4.2%，高于预期，引发了人们对不断上涨的消费者价格或成为美国经济问题的担忧。通货膨胀鹰派将其归咎于向经济注入的大量刺激和消费需求的激增(二手车价格同比上涨了五分之一)。全球供应瓶颈也推高了制造商的成本。然而，拜登政府认为通胀压力是暂时的，并将在今年晚些时候得到缓解。
Commodity prices are also going up, with the prices of iron ore and copper reaching record highs, in part because China’s factories are sucking up supplies. Oil prices are on the ascent again, approaching $70 for a barrel of Brent crude.
大宗商品价格也在上涨，铁矿石和铜的价格都达到了历史新高，部分原因是中国的工厂正在消耗供应。油价再次攀升，布伦特原油(Brent crude)逼近每桶70美元。
The FBI launched an investigation into a cyber-attack that forced the closure of the Colonial Pipeline, which stretches from Texas to New Jersey, providing half the transport fuel for America’s east coast. A criminal gang called DarkSide claimed responsibility. It describes itself as apolitical. There was some panic-buying of petrol (gas) as pump prices soared.
美国联邦调查局(FBI)对一场网络攻击展开了调查，这起攻击迫使科洛尼尔管道公司(Colonial Pipeline)关闭了从德克萨斯州延伸到新泽西州的管道运输服务，美国东海岸半数的燃料都由该公司提供。一个名为“黑暗面(DarkSide)”的犯罪团伙声称对此次攻击负责。该团伙声称，这次事件不牵涉政治。由于燃油价格飙升，一些民众开始恐慌性地囤购汽油。
With the outlook for inflation uncertain, stockmarkets bounced around as investors pondered whether the Federal Reserve would change direction and raise interest rates. The share prices of high-growth big tech companies have fallen in recent weeks because higher bond yields lower the value of their forecast earnings.
由于通货膨胀前景不确定，投资者考虑美联储是否会调整方向并提高利率，股市随之反弹。近几周，高增长大型科技公司的股价下跌，因为债券收益率上升降低了它们的预期收益价值。
Markets were also rattled by weak data on the American jobs market. Employers added 266,000 people to their payrolls in April, well below the numbers for February and March. And job vacancies hit 8.1m at the end of March, the most since records were first compiled in 2000. That led to a lot of head-scratching by economists trying to explain a lack of hiring when the economy is taking off.
美国就业市场的疲软数据也令市场感到不安。4月份新增就业人数为26.6万人，远低于2月和3月的数据。3月底，职位空缺达到810万，是自2000年首次编制记录以来的最高水平。这给经济学家们带来了很多困惑，他们试图解释在经济起飞时就业却不景气的现象。
The British economy shrank by 1.5% in the first quarter compared with the previous three months. The post-Christmas lockdown hit output hard in January, but by March it was expanding again as businesses adapted to the restrictions. GDP was still 6% smaller than before the start of the pandemic in February 2020.
与前三个月相比，英国经济第一季度萎缩了1.5%。圣诞节后的封锁令严重影响了今年1月的产量，但到了3月份，随着企业适应了这些限制措施，产量再次扩大。国内生产总值仍比2020年2月疫情开始前低6%。
译文由可可原创，仅供学习交流使用，未经许可请勿转载。
