Latest data will give a sense of where the economic momentum is headed

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Latest data will give a sense of where the economic momentum¹ is headed

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The U.S. will report its economic growth data for the October-December quarter, a period marked by high inflation, supply chain woes³ and labor⁴ shortages.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

The U.S. economy grew last year at the fastest pace since President Ronald Reagan was in office, but that growth was uneven⁵, with hopes for a steady recovery repeatedly dashed by all these waves of the pandemic. The Commerce Department offered a snapshot of that roller-coaster economy this morning when it reported on GDP growth for the fourth quarter and all of last year. We also got a sense of the economic momentum heading into this new year as the Federal Reserve tries to regain⁶ control over the rapidly rising prices. We've got NPR's chief economics correspondent Scott Horsley with us. Hey, Scott.

SCOTT HORSLEY, BYLINE⁷: Good morning, Rachel.

MARTIN: All right, so let's start with the most recent numbers here. What does this morning's GDP report show about the fourth quarter of last year?

HORSLEY: It shows really strong growth in the final months of 2021, with the economy growing at an annual rate of 6.9%. That's a big improvement from the previous quarter, when GDP grew just 2.3%. But, you know, the October-to-December quarter was, like the rest of the year, uneven. Chief economist⁸ Mark Zandi of Moody's Analytics says it's just an example of how the economy has been moving in fits and starts.

MARK ZANDI: Q4 started with a bang and ended with a whimper. October was a fantastic month for the economy. Consumer spending, investment - everything was kind of firing on all cylinders⁹. And then by December, of course, omicron came on the scene quickly and did a lot of damage.

HORSLEY: And that damage, Rachel, continues into the early weeks of the new year. Zandi and other forecasters think we could see a net loss of jobs in January, although the coming months could be better as the omicron wave recedes¹⁰.

MARTIN: So let's talk about that. What is the outlook for beyond January?

HORSLEY: Yeah, forecasters expect another year of above-average growth, although not as strong as we saw in 2021. For all of last year, the economy grew 5.7%, which is, as you pointed¹¹ out, the best performance since 1984. It might not have felt like it, though, because the recovery was so uneven. Zandi says the economy is still just yoked¹² to the pandemic.

ZANDI: When we're suffering a wave of the virus, the economy struggles. People get sick; can't go to work. Supply chains gets disrupted. And then when the wave passes through and we get back to work, the economy revs¹³ right back up. You know, it's quite amazing that despite the pandemic, we were able to enjoy such very strong growth last year.

HORSLEY: With each new wave of the pandemic, we do seem to see less damage to the economy than the one before. But there are still challenges ahead, not the least of which is high inflation.

MARTIN: Yeah. So yesterday, the Federal Reserve sort of telegraphed that it's going to start raising interest rates soon to deal with that inflation. Explain the Fed's thinking.

HORSLEY: Yeah, prices are climbing fast, more than three times as fast as the central bank would like. That's not news to anybody who's been to the grocery store or the gas station lately. And at the same time, the unemployment rate has dropped pretty sharply. So Fed Chairman Jerome Powell says the economy no longer needs the kind of life support that the central bank has been offering throughout the pandemic. He and his colleagues expect to start raising interest rates at their next meeting in March. But Powell acknowledged this is still a very unusual, unpredictable economy, subject to the ups and downs of the pandemic and all the usual economic winds. So he and his colleagues will have to be nimble and ready to shift gears as the roller-coaster recovery unfolds.

MARTIN: NPR's Scott Horsley. Scott, thank you.

HORSLEY: You're welcome.

1 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 woes   

困境( woe的名词复数 )； 悲伤； 我好苦哇； 某人就要倒霉

参考例句：

• Thanks for listening to my woes. 谢谢您听我诉说不幸的遭遇。
• She has cried the blues about its financial woes. 对于经济的困难她叫苦不迭。

4 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

5 uneven   

adj.不平坦的，不规则的，不均匀的

参考例句：

• The sidewalk is very uneven—be careful where you walk.这人行道凹凸不平—走路时请小心。
• The country was noted for its uneven distribution of land resources.这个国家以土地资源分布不均匀出名。

6 regain   

vt.重新获得，收复，恢复

参考例句：

• He is making a bid to regain his World No.1 ranking.他正为重登世界排名第一位而努力。
• The government is desperate to regain credibility with the public.政府急于重新获取公众的信任。

7 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

8 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

9 cylinders   

n.圆筒( cylinder的名词复数 )；圆柱；汽缸；（尤指用作容器的）圆筒状物

参考例句：

• They are working on all cylinders to get the job finished. 他们正在竭尽全力争取把这工作干完。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• That jeep has four cylinders. 那辆吉普车有4个汽缸。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 recedes   

v.逐渐远离( recede的第三人称单数 )；向后倾斜；自原处后退或避开别人的注视；尤指问题

参考例句：

• For this reason the near point gradually recedes as one grows older. 由于这个原因，随着人渐渐变老，近点便逐渐后退。 来自辞典例句
• Silent, mournful, abandoned, broken, Czechoslovakia recedes into the darkness. 缄默的、悲哀的、被抛弃的、支离破碎的捷克斯洛伐克，已在黑暗之中。 来自辞典例句

11 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

12 yoked   

结合（yoke的过去式形式）

参考例句：

• The farmer yoked the oxen. 那个农夫给牛加上轭。
• He was yoked to an disinclined partner. 他不得不与一位不情愿的伙伴合作。

13 revs   

abbr.revolutions （复数）旋转，回转，转数n.发动机的旋转( rev的名词复数 )v.（使）加速( rev的第三人称单数 )；（数量、活动等）激增；（使发动机）快速旋转；（使）活跃起来

参考例句：

• The engine was doing 6000 revs. 引擎转速为6000。 来自互联网
• Shared primary objectives included the highest possible torque and fast response from low revs. 共同的主要目标包括尽可能高转矩和响应速度快的低转速。 来自互联网