2021年经济学人 为应对供应链危机，洛杉矶港口将24小时运营

The world this week -- Business

本周国际要闻——商业

America’s annual inflation rate climbed again in September, to 5.4%, having dipped slightly in August.

美国的年通货膨胀率在8月份略有下降，9月份再次攀升至5.4%。

In its latest outlook on the world economy the IMF said that rising inflation reflected “pandemic-related supply-demand mismatches and higher commodity prices”, and warned that central banks would need “to walk a fine line” between tackling inflation and supporting post-pandemic economic recovery.

国际货币基金组织（IMF）在其对世界经济的最新展望中表示，通胀上升反映出“与疫情相关的供需不匹配以及大宗商品价格上涨”，并警告称，各国央行将需要在应对通胀和支持疫情后的经济复苏之间“保持平衡”。

Battling a supply-chain crisis that has caused a backlog¹ of imports, a factor contributing to inflationary pressures, Joe Biden announced that the port of Los Angeles would operate 24 hours a day.

供应链危机已导致进口积压，这是造成通胀压力的一个因素。为了应对供应链危机，乔·拜登宣布，洛杉矶港口将全天24小时运营。

Along with the port of Long Beach (which is already open 24 hours) the complex is the biggest entry point in America for products from China and South-East Asia.

连同长滩港（已24小时运营）一起，该综合港口是来自中国和东南亚的产品在美国最大的入口点。

Big retailers³ and logistics companies, such as Walmart, pledged also to work longer hours to keep goods flowing.

沃尔玛等大型零售商和物流公司也承诺延长工作时间，以保持货物流动。

Apple’s share price fell sharply amid speculation⁴ that it would have to curtail⁵ production of its new iPhone 13 during the coming months because of problems obtaining chips.

苹果股价大幅下跌，原因是外界猜测，该公司因芯片短缺将不得不在未来几个月削减新款iPhone 13的产量。

Retailers in America and Europe have warned of shortages in a wide range of goods ahead of the Christmas shopping season.

美国和欧洲的零售商警告说，在圣诞节购物季来临之前，很多商品都会出现短缺。

Almost 4.3m Americans left their jobs in August, raising the “quit rate” to 2.9% of total employment.

8月份，近430万美国人离职，“离职率”上升到总就业人数的2.9%。

That was the highest rate since the data started to be measured in 2000.

这是自2000年开始统计数据以来的最高水平。

Most workers who jacked in their jobs were in the retail² and restaurant industries, suggesting that they are confident of finding better-paid employment.

辞职的大多都是零售业和餐饮业的工作人员，这表明他们有信心找到收入更高的工作。

America’s unemployment rate fell to 4.8% in September, the lowest since March 2020, when the pandemic struck.

美国9月份的失业率降至4.8%，这为2020年3月疫情爆发以来的最低水平。

But it was also the weakest month this year for job creation, with employers adding just 194,000 people to the payrolls⁶.

但这也是今年就业机会增长最疲软的一个月，雇主们的在职人员名册上仅增加了19.4万人。

The White House claimed that many organisations that have instigated⁷ a requirement that staff be vaccinated⁸ against covid-19 have increased their vaccination⁹ rates by more than 20 percentage points, to 90%.

白宫声称，许多组织要求员工接种新冠疫苗，它们已经将疫苗接种率提高了超过20个百分点，达到90%。

After years of negotiations¹⁰ under the auspices¹¹ of the OECD, 136 countries agreed to introduce a global minimum corporate-tax rate of 15% and bring in new measures to force companies to pay more tax in the countries where they do business.

在经济合作与发展组织(OECD)的主持下，经过多年的谈判，136个国家同意引入15%的全球最低企业税率，并采取新措施，迫使企业在其开展业务的国家缴纳更多税款。

Ireland, a low-tax haven¹² for firms, overcame its hesitancy and signed up.

爱尔兰，一个企业的低税收天堂，克服了犹豫，并签署了协议。

Only four of the countries that entered the talks did not.

参加谈判的国家中只有四个没有签署协议。

To ease its passage through the American Congress, the pact¹³ imposes a two-year moratorium¹⁴ on new digital taxes, which affect Google and the like.

为了在美国国会顺利通过该协议，该协议对影响谷歌等公司的新数字税实施了为期两年的暂缓征收。

1 backlog   

n.积压未办之事

参考例句：

• It will take a month to clear the backlog of work.要花一个月的时间才能清理完积压的工作。
• Investment is needed to reduce the backlog of repairs.需要投资来減轻积压的维修工作。

2 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

3 retailers   

零售商，零售店( retailer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• High street retailers reported a marked increase in sales before Christmas. 商业街的零售商报告说圣诞节前销售量显著提高。
• Retailers have a statutory duty to provide goods suitable for their purpose. 零售商有为他们提供符合要求的货品的法定义务。

4 speculation   

n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机

参考例句：

• Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
• There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。

5 curtail   

vt.截短，缩短；削减

参考例句：

• The government hopes to curtail public spending.政府希望缩减公共事业开支。
• The minister had to curtail his visit.部长不得不缩短访问日期。

6 payrolls   

n.（公司员工的）工资名单( payroll的名词复数 )；（公司的）工资总支出，工薪总额

参考例句：

• Indices of employment, payrolls, and production steadied in February 1931931年2月，就业、工资额和生产指数稳定。 来自辞典例句
• Wall Street responded to the payrolls figures with gusto. 华尔街对就业数据作出了积极的反应。 来自互联网

7 instigated   

v.使（某事物）开始或发生，鼓动( instigate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The government has instigated a programme of economic reform. 政府已实施了经济改革方案。
• He instigated the revolt. 他策动了这次叛乱。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 vaccinated   

[医]已接种的，种痘的，接种过疫菌的

参考例句：

• I was vaccinated against tetanus. 我接种了破伤风疫苗。
• Were you vaccinated against smallpox as a child? 你小时候打过天花疫苗吗？

9 vaccination   

n.接种疫苗，种痘

参考例句：

• Vaccination is a preventive against smallpox.种痘是预防天花的方法。
• Doctors suggest getting a tetanus vaccination every ten years.医生建议每十年注射一次破伤风疫苗。

10 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

11 auspices   

n.资助，赞助

参考例句：

• The association is under the auspices of Word Bank.这个组织是在世界银行的赞助下办的。
• The examination was held under the auspices of the government.这次考试是由政府主办的。

12 haven   

n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所

参考例句：

• It's a real haven at the end of a busy working day.忙碌了一整天后，这真是一个安乐窝。
• The school library is a little haven of peace and quiet.学校的图书馆是一个和平且安静的小避风港。

13 pact   

n.合同，条约，公约，协定

参考例句：

• The two opposition parties made an electoral pact.那两个反对党订了一个有关选举的协定。
• The trade pact between those two countries came to an end.那两国的通商协定宣告结束。

14 moratorium   

n.(行动、活动的)暂停(期)，延期偿付

参考例句：

• The government has called for a moratorium on weapons testing.政府已要求暂停武器试验。
• We recommended a moratorium on two particular kinds of experiments.我们建议暂禁两种特殊的实验。