华盛顿——9月份消费价格的又一次飙升将通胀率从一年前的水平推高了5.4%，这是自2008年以来的最大涨幅，因为错综复杂的全球供应线仍在制造混乱。
9月份美国消费者价格比8月份上涨了0.4%，食物汽油和餐馆的饭菜都涨价了。
美国劳工部周三表示，消费者价格指数的年度增幅与6月和7月的读数相当，为13年来最高。剔除波动较大的食品和能源类别，9月份核心通胀率上升了0.2%，同比上升了4%。6月份，核心价格创下了4.5%的30年新高。
持续的价格上涨给美联储和总统带来了压力，该国官员一再表示，价格上涨将是暂时的乔·拜登他正面临着就业增长放缓和通胀加剧的经济形势。共和党人指责拜登今年3月实施的1.9万亿美元救助计划刺激了通胀。
今年意外爆发的通胀反映了食品和能源价格的大幅上涨，但也反映了家具、汽车、电视和其他主要进口商品的价格上涨。新冠肺炎关闭了在亚洲的工厂，减缓了美国港口的运营，导致集装箱船停泊在海上，消费者和企业为可能数月内无法抵达的货物支付更多费用。
咨询公司牛津经济学(Oxford Economics)的经济学家凯西·博斯特坚西克(Kathy Bostjancic)表示:“在需求强劲的情况下，持续的供应链瓶颈导致的价格上涨将使通胀率保持高位，因为供需失衡只会逐渐得到解决。“虽然我们同意美联储的观点，即这不是工资价格螺旋上升的开始，但我们预计通胀率将持续保持在3%以上，直到2022年年中。”
最新的通胀数据使得美联储更有可能很快开始减少每月1200亿美元的债券购买，这是为了保持较低的长期利率。大多数分析师预计，美联储将在11月3日的下次会议上宣布这一举措。
更高的价格也超过了许多工人能够从企业获得的工资增长，企业不得不支付更多的工资来吸引员工。9月份平均时薪同比增长4.6%，增幅健康，但不足以跟上通胀。
然而，对于美国老年人来说，这一增长带来了39年来最大的福利增长。政府周三表示，明年每月社会保障支票将增加5.9%。退伍军人和退休人员的其他福利也是如此。
9月份的一个好迹象是，在最初被大流行推高的类别中，价格有所下降或放缓。这些下降阻止了核心价格上涨的恶化。
二手车价格上个月下跌了0.7%，这是继夏季成本飙升之后的第二次连续下跌，因为消费者找不到或买不起新车，转向了二手车。
上个月，酒店房间、汽车租赁和机票的费用也全部下降，因为新冠肺炎的德尔塔高峰病例限制了旅行计划。在许多公司出售了部分租赁车队后，汽车租赁价格在夏季飙升。9月服装价格下跌1.1%，为今年早些时候涨价后的消费者提供了一些缓解。
然而，新车越来越贵，9月份成本上涨了1.3%，与一年前相比上涨了8.7%。这是自1980年以来新车价格最大的12个月涨幅。半导体短缺限制了汽车生产，使得经销商的汽车数量减少。
面临重大运输延误的家用家具价格仅在9月份就上涨了2.4%，为1988年以来的最大涨幅。过去12个月，家具成本飙升11.2%，为1951年以来最高。
鞋类价格在9月份上涨了0.5%，在过去的一年里上涨了6.5%。童鞋上涨了11.9%，这是追溯到20世纪50年代的历史最高数据。大多数鞋子都是进口的，很可能陷入供应瓶颈。
餐馆老板支付更高的工资来吸引在大流行中变得难以捉摸的工人，他们为食物支付更多的钱。这已经是连续第五个月导致9月份价格大幅上涨0.5%。在过去的一年里，全套服务餐馆的餐费上涨了5.2%，这是有记录以来前所未有的上涨。
天然气价格上个月上涨了1.2%，与一年前相比上涨了42%以上。9月份的电价比8月份上涨了0.8%。
住房成本也大幅上升，因为建筑商表示，他们无法尽快找到建造新房所需的所有零件和工人。9月份租金上涨了0.5%，房价上涨了0.4%。如果持续的话，这些增长将会给价格带来巨大的上涨压力，因为这两项指标占了CPI的近三分之一。
通胀率远高于美联储每年2%的目标。主席杰罗姆·鲍威尔一再表示，明年价格涨幅应该“减弱”，使通胀更接近目标。
美联储副主席理查德·克拉里达在周二的讲话中回应了这一观点。
“今年不受欢迎的通胀飙升，一旦这些相对价格调整完成，瓶颈消除，最终将被证明在很大程度上是短暂的，”他说。
亚特兰大美联储银行行长拉斐尔·博斯蒂克周二在单独的讲话中开玩笑说，“暂时”现在被视为相当于亚特兰大联邦储备银行的一个诅咒词。博斯蒂克表示，价格飙升主要反映了大流行对供应链的影响，并补充说，它们最终应该会消退，但这可能需要比许多美联储官员最初预期的更长时间。
白宫周三表示，它已帮助促成一项协议，保持洛杉矶港每周7天、每天24小时开放，以努力缓解供应瓶颈，减轻价格压力。
洛杉矶和加州长滩的港口占进入美国的所有海运集装箱的40%。据南加州海运交易所(Marine Exchange of Southern California)的数据，截至周一，有62艘船只停泊在这两个港口，81艘船只等待停靠和卸货。
Inflation rises 5.4% from year ago, matching 13-year high
WASHINGTON -- Another surge in consumer prices in September pushed inflation up 5.4% from where it was a year ago, matching the largest increase since 2008 as tangled global supply lines continue to create havoc.
U.S. consumer prices rose 0.4% in September from August as the costs of new cars,food, gas, and restaurant meals all jumped.
The annual increase in the consumer price index matched readings in June and July as the highest in 13 years, the Labor Department said Wednesday. 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 ongoing price gains raise pressure on the Federal Reserve, whose officials have repeatedly said the increases will be transitory, and on PresidentJoe Biden, who is facing an economy of slowing job gains and higher inflation. Biden has been accused by Republicans for spurring inflation with his $1.9 trillion rescue package enacted in March of this year.
The unexpected burst of inflation this year reflects sharply higher prices for food and energy, but also for furniture, cars, televisions, and other largely imported goods. 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 may not arrive for months.
“Price increases stemming from ongoing supply chain bottlenecks amid strong demand will keep the rate of inflation elevated, as supply (and) demand imbalances are only gradually resolved,” said Kathy Bostjancic, an economist at Oxford Economics, a consulting firm. “While we share the Fed’s view that this isn’t the start of an upward wage-price spiral, we look for inflation to remain persistently above 3% through mid-2022.”
The latest inflationary data makes it even more likely that the Fed will soon begin reducing its $120 billion a month in bond purchases, which are intended to keep longer-term interest rates low. Most analysts expect the Fed to announce such a move at its next meeting Nov. 3.
Higher prices are also outstripping the pay gains many workers are able to obtain from businesses, which 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.
For elderly Americans, however, the increase has resulted in the biggest increase in benefits in 39 years. Monthly Social Security checks will rise 5.9% next year, the government said Wednesday. So will other benefits for veterans and retirees.
One good sign in September was that prices fell or moderated in categories that had been initially pushed much higher by the pandemic. Those declines kept core price increases from worsening.
Used car prices declined 0.7% last month, the second straight drop, after costs soared over the summer as consumers, unable to find or afford a new car, turned to used instead.
The costs for hotel rooms, car rentals, and airline tickets also all fell last month, as the delta spike in COVID-19 cases limited travel plans. Car rental prices had shot up over the summer after many companies sold portions of their rental fleets. Clothing prices fell 1.1% in September, providing consumers some relief after increases earlier this year.
New cars, however, are growing increasingly expensive with costs rising 1.3% in September, and 8.7% compared with a year ago. That is the biggest 12-month increase in new car prices since 1980. A shortage of semiconductors has restrained vehicle production and left fewer cars on dealer lots.
Prices for household furniture, which has faced major shipping delays, jumped 2.4% in September alone, the biggest increase since 1988. Over the past 12 months, furniture costs have soared 11.2%, the most since 1951.
The cost of shoes rose 0.5% in September and have jumped 6.5% in the past year. Children's shoes are up 11.9%, a record-high gain in data that stretches back to the 1950s. Most shoes are imported and are likely caught in supply bottlenecks.
Restaurant owners are paying higher salaries to lure workers who have become elusive in the pandemic and they're paying more for food. And for the fifth consecutive month, that has led to outsized price gains, 0.5%, in September. The cost of a meal at a full-service restaurant has jumped 5.2% in the past year, an unprecedented leap for as long as records have been kept.
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.
Housing costs also rose at a strong clip, as builders say they cannot find all the parts and workers they need to build new homes as quickly as they'd like. Rents rose 0.5% in September and a measure of home prices climbed 0.4%. If sustained, those increases will put significant upward pressure on prices, as those two measures account for nearly one-third of the CPI.
Inflation is far above the Fed's target of 2% annually. 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 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.
Ports in Los Angeles and Long Beach, California, account for 40% of all shipping containers entering the U.S. As of Monday, there were 62 ships berthed at the two ports and 81 waiting to dock and unload, according to the Marine Exchange of Southern California.
