美国国家公共电台 NPR--Inflation appears to be slowing but the Fed is expected to announce another rate hike

Inflation appears to be slowing but the Fed is expected to announce another rate hike

Transcript¹

The Federal Reserve is expected to raise interest rates by a half point Wednesday as efforts to curb² inflation show progress. November's annual inflation rate was the lowest in 11 months.

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

For more than a year and a half, inflation has been eating away at our pocketbooks, driving up prices of, well, pretty much everything. The Federal Reserve is expected to announce its latest interest rate hike this afternoon in an effort to pause inflation. Here's NPR's Scott Horsley.

SCOTT HORSLEY, BYLINE³: Inflation is coming down slowly. A report on Tuesday showed inflation dipped from an annual rate of 9% in June to just over 7% in November. But prices are still climbing much faster than Americans were used to in the decades before the pandemic, so the Fed is expected to keep raising interest rates in an effort to tamp⁴ down demand and bring prices under control. Rising interest rates make it more expensive to get a car loan or a home mortgage or carry a balance on your credit card. The central bank has already raised its benchmark borrowing rate six times this year from near zero in March to just under 4% now. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell says despite that strong dose of monetary⁵ medicine, the economy and especially the job market have held up well.

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JEROME POWELL: We're in a place where we really can get inflation under control. Unemployment's at 3.7%. I don't regret getting to where we are. And I think broadly the world would be better off if we can get this over quickly.

HORSLEY: Today's rate hike is expected to be smaller than the last four, and some forecasters think the Fed will pause altogether after maybe one more rate increase in February. We'll get some clues about that this afternoon when Fed policymakers release their own forecast of where interest rates are headed. Economist⁶ Julia Coronado of MacroPolicy Perspectives says even if rate hikes slow or stop in the coming months, that doesn't mean the central bank's about to declare victory over inflation or that borrowing will soon get any cheaper.

JULIA CORONADO: Don't think that just because we're going to stop raising rates in the near future doesn't mean we're going to be cutting them any time soon. The money is still going to be more expensive and tighter. And that's one of the ways they're going to keep inflation in check.

HORSLEY: Higher borrowing costs are already being felt in the most sensitive sectors⁷ of the economy. Home sales and home construction have declined, and prices for home furnishings are starting to come down as well. Tuesday's inflation report also showed falling prices for used cars, airline tickets and gasoline. The Fed's biggest concern now is the rising price of services. They're likely to keep climbing so long as wages are rising at a rapid rate.

Scott Horsley, NPR News, Washington.

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1 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。

2 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。

3 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。

4 tamp   

v.捣实，砸实

参考例句：

• Then I tamp down the soil with the back of a rake.然后我用耙子的背将土壤拍实。
• Philpott tamped a wad of tobacco into his pipe.菲尔波特往烟斗里塞了一卷碎烟叶。

5 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

6 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。

7 sectors   

n.部门( sector的名词复数 )；领域；防御地区；扇形

参考例句：

• Berlin was divided into four sectors after the war. 战后柏林分成了4 个区。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Industry and agriculture are the two important sectors of the national economy. 工业和农业是国民经济的两个重要部门。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》