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The way you feel about the news on inflation depends on who you are.
听到通货膨胀有关的新闻，你会有什么感受取决于你的身份是什么。
The latest U.S. numbers showed the inflation rate is coming down.
最新的美国数据显示，通货膨胀率正在下降。
This makes it seem more likely that the Fed can bring interest rates down. And stock markets were up again yesterday.
这使得美联储更有可能降低利率。昨天股市再次上涨。
Just last week the markets were diving. But that's a distant memory.
就在上周，市场还在暴跌。但印象中那已经是很久之前的事情了。
But high prices are a current reality for many consumers.
但是高物价是许多消费者当前面临的现实。
So NPR's Scott Horsley joins us now.
因此，NPR的斯科特·霍斯利现在与我们连线。
Scott, good morning. Good morning, Steve.
斯科特，早上好。早上好，史蒂夫。
OK, let's start with the top-line number. What's happening?
好的，让我们先来看看最重要的数据。发生了什么事？
Well, inflation continues to moderate. Consumer prices in July were up just 2.9% from a year ago.
嗯，通货膨胀继续缓和。七月份的消费价格仅比一年前上涨了2.9%。
That's the smallest annual increase in more than three years.
这是三年多来年度增长最小幅的一次。
Inflation has come down by more than two-thirds from its peak back when Russia invaded Ukraine.
通货膨胀率已经从俄罗斯入侵乌克兰时的峰值下降了三分之二以上。
Gasoline prices are actually down in the last year, so our air fares and used cars.
汽油价格实际上在去年就下降了，我们的机票和二手车也是如此。
And falling inflation is very much what economists have been waiting to see.
而通货膨胀率的下降正是经济学家们一直期待看到的。
But White House economist Jared Bernstein concedes we're not yet back to where a lot of average people want us to be. The momentum is certainly in the right direction.
但是白宫经济学家贾里德·伯恩斯坦承认，我们还没有回到很多普通人的期望值。 当前的趋势肯定是朝着正确的方向发展的。
Inflation is reliably coming down, and so this is a consistent trend that's moving in the right direction. No victory laps.
通货膨胀确实在下降，所以这是一个朝着正确方向发展的持续趋势。但还不没有到庆祝胜利的时候。
We still have to be mindful that too many families are facing too many high costs.
我们仍然必须注意，太多的家庭正面临着太多的高昂费用。
Bernstein actually gave a speech last month where he talked about the difference between inflation rates and inflation vibes.
伯恩斯坦实际上在上个月发表了一次演讲，他在演讲中谈到了通货膨胀率和通货膨胀氛围之间的区别。
He knows that a lot of people are still unhappy about high prices, even though those prices are no longer climbing nearly as fast as they had been.
他知道，尽管物价不再像过去那样快速上涨，但仍有很多人对高物价感到不满。
Yeah, I want to be really frank about this, Scott. When we say inflation vibes, it can imply that people just feel bad about inflation.
是的，实话实说，斯科特。当我们说通货膨胀的氛围时，它可能意味着人们只是对通货膨胀感觉不好。
But for many people, the reality is that prices are still high, right? Right.
但是对于很多人来说，现实情况是物价仍然很高，对吧？ 对。
And if you look at the data, housing costs are still going up.
而且，如果你查看数据，住房成本仍在上涨。
People who own a home with a fixed-rate mortgage might be partially insulated from that.
拥有固定利率抵押贷款房屋的人可能会在一定程度上免受这种影响。
But renters, like Teresa Wolf (ph), who lives in St. Petersburg, Fla. , have definitely felt a big increase.
但是，像住在佛罗里达州圣彼得堡的特蕾莎·沃尔夫这样的租房者，肯定感受到了大幅上涨。
First of all, I live with a roommate because I have to. Rents have just skyrocketed. Everyone I know is doing the same thing.
首先，我和室友一起合租，我不得不这样做。租金刚刚飞涨，我认识的每个人都选择了合租。
And even if you're a homeowner, your insurance has gone up so much. So everybody's now sharing.
而且即使你自己有房，你的保险也涨了很多。所以现在每个人都在分担。
We also continue to hear complaints about grocery prices.
我们也一直听到有关食品杂货价格的投诉。
Even though supermarket prices have been pretty stable for the last year - they're up just over 1% in that time period - they're up more than 25% since the pre-pandemic era.
尽管超市价格在过去一年中相当稳定——在此期间仅上涨了1%多一点——但自疫情前以来，它们已经上涨了超过25%。
And Wolf and others are feeling the sting of those cumulative price hikes.
而且沃尔夫和其他人都感受到了这些累计涨价的刺痛。
I don't buy potato chips anymore. That's moved into the luxury category because they kept raising prices, raising prices, raising prices.
我不再买薯片了。这已经进入了奢侈品类别，因为薯片一直在涨价，涨价，涨价。
And, I mean, I had a heart attack at Publix when it was a bag of tortilla chips - I think it was $7.99.
而且，我的意思是，我在Publix超市买了一袋玉米饼薯片时心脏病发作了——我记得那袋薯片要了我7.99美元。
Frito-Lay sales actually fell in the most recent quarter, as some customers said enough is enough.
菲多利最近一个季度的销售额实际上有所下降，因为一些客户表示受够了。
Now, I should point out, while grocery prices are up 25% since before the pandemic, average wages are up 23% during that period.
现在，我应该指出，虽然食品杂货价格自疫情前以来上涨了25%，但在此期间平均工资上涨了23%。
So wages haven't quite kept pace, but they are catching up. OK, that's a useful bit of news.
因此工资并没有完全跟上步伐，但它们正在迎头赶上。好的，这是一条有用的消息。
Now, we'll just remind people that the Federal Reserve takes the lead on fighting inflation.
现在，我们要提醒人们，美联储在抗击通货膨胀方面发挥着主导作用。
They've kept interest rates high, but everybody's waiting for them to begin lowering them since interest rates could be punishing in their own way. How do they know when they've done enough?
他们一直在维持高利率，但每个人都在等待他们开始降低利率，因为利率本身就可能是一种惩罚。他们怎么知道自己做得够不够？
Well, the Fed is watching the data, and not just the inflation rate but also the unemployment rate, which has been creeping up a little bit.
嗯，美联储正在关注数据，不仅是通货膨胀率，还有失业率，它一直在缓慢上升。
For a long time, the job market was so strong the Fed could really focus on getting inflation under control.
长期以来，就业市场一直非常强劲，美联储真的可以专注于控制通货膨胀。
Now it has to be careful that those high interest rates don't needlessly put more people out of work.
现在，它必须小心谨慎，避免高利率不必要地导致更多的人失业。
Markets think that inflation has come down enough, so the Fed can start cutting interest rates when policymakers meet next month.
市场认为通货膨胀已经下降到足够低的水平了，因此美联储可以在下个月政策制定者开会时开始降息。
And if the job market's looking a little shaky, then those rate cuts might come faster.
如果就业市场看起来有点不稳定，那么这些降息可能会来得更快。
NPR's Scott Horsley. Thanks very much. You're welcome.
NPR的斯科特·霍斯利。非常感谢。不客气。
