美国消费者价格指数上个月环比上涨0.4%,涨幅略高于8月份,年通胀率回升至13年来的最高水平。
美国劳工部周三表示,9月消费者价格指数较上年同期上涨5.4%,涨幅略高于8月(5.3%),与6月和7月创下的自2008年以来的最高涨幅持平。剔除波动较大的食品和能源类别,9月美国核心通胀率环比增长0.2%,同比增长4%。核心价格指数在6月份触及4.5%,创下30年来的最高水平。
今年通胀的意外爆发反映了食品和能源价格的大幅上涨,但也反映了新车和二手车、酒店客房、服装和家具以及其他商品服务的价格上涨。新冠疫情致使亚洲各地工厂停工,减缓了美国港口的运营,导致集装箱船停泊在海上,消费者和企业得为几个月都无法到达的货物支付更多的费用。
物价的涨幅也超过了许多工作者可从企业获得的薪资涨幅,企业也不得不提高待遇来吸引员工。9月,平均时薪同比增长4.6%,涨幅可观,但不足以跟上通货膨胀的步伐。
天然气价格上个月环比上涨了1.2%,同比飙升了42%以上。9月电价较8月份上涨0.8%。
供应链中断持续推升新车价格,上月新车价格环比上涨1.3%,同比上涨8.7%,刷新了1980年以来的同比涨幅记录。由于半导体短缺,汽车生产受限,经销商手中的汽车库存随之减少。
物价的快速上涨给美联储带来了更多的压力,毕竟美联储已将基准利率下调至接近零的水平,以刺激更多的借贷和支出活动。然而,通胀率目前远高于该机构2%的目标。美联储主席杰罗姆·鲍威尔一再表示,明年物价涨幅应该会“减缓”,使得通胀率更接近于目标水平。
美联储副主席理查德·克拉里达在周二的讲话中呼应了这一观点。
“一旦这些相对价格调整完毕,供应链瓶颈得到消除,今年令人厌恶的通胀飙升最终将被证明基本上是暂时性的。”他说。
亚特兰大联邦储备银行主席拉斐尔·博斯蒂克周二在另一场讲话中开玩笑说,“暂时性”一词如今在亚特兰大联储已被视为骂人的字眼。博斯蒂克表示,物价上涨主要反映了新冠疫情对供应链造成的影响,最终应该会消退,但这一过程可能会比许多美联储官员最初预期的时间更长。
物价上涨也是美国总统拜登的一个软肋,他因今年3月实施的1.9万亿美元救助计划刺激通胀而受到共和党人的抨击。
白宫周三表示,它已帮助促成一项协议,让洛杉矶港口每周7天、每天24小时全天候开放,以缓解供应链瓶颈,降低价格压力。(财富中文网)
译者:万志文
美国消费者价格指数上个月环比上涨0.4%,涨幅略高于8月份,年通胀率回升至13年来的最高水平。
美国劳工部周三表示,9月消费者价格指数较上年同期上涨5.4%,涨幅略高于8月(5.3%),与6月和7月创下的自2008年以来的最高涨幅持平。剔除波动较大的食品和能源类别,9月美国核心通胀率环比增长0.2%,同比增长4%。核心价格指数在6月份触及4.5%,创下30年来的最高水平。
今年通胀的意外爆发反映了食品和能源价格的大幅上涨,但也反映了新车和二手车、酒店客房、服装和家具以及其他商品服务的价格上涨。新冠疫情致使亚洲各地工厂停工,减缓了美国港口的运营,导致集装箱船停泊在海上,消费者和企业得为几个月都无法到达的货物支付更多的费用。
物价的涨幅也超过了许多工作者可从企业获得的薪资涨幅,企业也不得不提高待遇来吸引员工。9月,平均时薪同比增长4.6%,涨幅可观,但不足以跟上通货膨胀的步伐。
天然气价格上个月环比上涨了1.2%,同比飙升了42%以上。9月电价较8月份上涨0.8%。
供应链中断持续推升新车价格,上月新车价格环比上涨1.3%,同比上涨8.7%,刷新了1980年以来的同比涨幅记录。由于半导体短缺,汽车生产受限,经销商手中的汽车库存随之减少。
物价的快速上涨给美联储带来了更多的压力,毕竟美联储已将基准利率下调至接近零的水平,以刺激更多的借贷和支出活动。然而,通胀率目前远高于该机构2%的目标。美联储主席杰罗姆·鲍威尔一再表示,明年物价涨幅应该会“减缓”,使得通胀率更接近于目标水平。
美联储副主席理查德·克拉里达在周二的讲话中呼应了这一观点。
“一旦这些相对价格调整完毕,供应链瓶颈得到消除,今年令人厌恶的通胀飙升最终将被证明基本上是暂时性的。”他说。
亚特兰大联邦储备银行主席拉斐尔·博斯蒂克周二在另一场讲话中开玩笑说,“暂时性”一词如今在亚特兰大联储已被视为骂人的字眼。博斯蒂克表示,物价上涨主要反映了新冠疫情对供应链造成的影响,最终应该会消退,但这一过程可能会比许多美联储官员最初预期的时间更长。
物价上涨也是美国总统拜登的一个软肋,他因今年3月实施的1.9万亿美元救助计划刺激通胀而受到共和党人的抨击。
白宫周三表示,它已帮助促成一项协议,让洛杉矶港口每周7天、每天24小时全天候开放,以缓解供应链瓶颈,降低价格压力。(财富中文网)
译者:万志文
Consumer prices rose 0.4% last month, slightly higher than August's gain and pushing annual inflation back to the highest increase in 13 years.
The consumer price index rose 5.4% in September from a year ago, the Labor Department said Wednesday, up slightly from August's gain of 5.3% and matching the increases in June and July, which were the highest since 2008. Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, core inflation rose 0.2% in September and 4% compared with a year ago. Core prices hit a three-decade high of 4.5% in June.
The unexpected burst of inflation this year reflects sharply higher prices for food and energy, but also new and used cars, hotel rooms, clothing, and furniture, among other goods and services. COVID-19 has shut down factories in Asia and slowed U.S. port operations, leaving container ships anchored at sea and consumers and businesses paying more for goods that don't arrive for months.
Higher prices are also outstripping the pay gains many workers are able to obtain from businesses, who are having to pay more to attract employees. Average hourly wages rose 4.6% in September from a year earlier, a healthy increase, but not enough to keep up with inflation.
Gas prices jumped 1.2% last month and have soared more than 42% compared with a year ago. Electricity prices rose 0.8% in September from August.
Supply chain disruptions continue to drive new car prices higher, which rose 1.3% last month and are up 8.7% from a year ago, the largest 12-month increase since 1980. A shortage of semiconductors has restrained vehicle production and left fewer cars on dealer lots.
The rapid price increases have raised pressure on the Federal Reserve, which has pegged its benchmark interest rate at nearly zero to spur more borrowing and spending. Yet inflation is far above its target of 2%. Chair Jerome Powell has repeatedly said that the price gains should “abate” next year, bringing inflation closer to the target.
Fed Vice Chair Richard Clarida echoed that view in remarks Tuesday.
“The unwelcome surge in inflation this year, once these relative price adjustments are complete and bottlenecks have unclogged, will in the end prove to be largely transitory,” he said.
Raphael Bostic, president of the Atlanta Federal Reserve, joked Tuesday in separate remarks that “transitory” is now seen as the equivalent of a curse word at the Atlanta Fed. Bostic said that the price spikes mostly reflect the pandemic’s impact on supply chains and added they should eventually fade, but it will likely take longer than many Fed officials initially expected.
The price gains are also a vulnerability for President Joe Biden, who has been under attack by Republicans for spurring inflation with his $1.9 trillion rescue package enacted in March of this year.
The White House said Wednesday that it has helped foster an agreement to keep the Port of Los Angeles open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, in an effort to ease supply bottlenecks and reduce price pressures.