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The American economy grew last quarter at its fastest rate in over a decade, providing the strongest evidence to date that the recovery is finally gaining sustained power more than five years after it began.
美国经济上季度录得了逾10年来的最高增速。这一数据为经济复苏在开始五年多之后终于获得持续动力的说法提供了迄今为止最为有力的证据。
Bolstered by robust spending among consumers and businesses alike, economic output rose at an annual rate of 5 percent during the summer months, the Commerce Department said Tuesday, a sharp revision from its earlier estimate of 3.9 percent. The advance followed a second quarter where growth reached a rate of 4.6 percent after a decline last winter that was exacerbated by particularly harsh weather.
商务部周二宣布，受到消费者和相关企业大幅支出的提振，美国经济产出在夏季三个月份的年化增长率为5%，较此前3.9%的估值有大幅的修正。此前，在去年冬天的极端恶劣天气推动了经济下滑之后，今年二季度的经济增长达到了4.6%。
The revision was led by an upswing in investment by businesses, a powerful force for growth in most economic recoveries but one that has lagged in the latest rebound. Higher consumer spending, including increased outlays on health care, and a narrower trade balance also contributed to the summer improvement. The gain makes the third quarter the strongest since the summer of 2003.
推动这次修正的主要是企业投资的上扬。在经济复苏的过程中，企业投资往往是增长的强大动力。然而在最近的这轮复苏中，该领域一直滞后。包括医疗保健等领域的消费者支出的加大，以及贸易逆差的收窄，也促成了今夏经济增速的提高。这使得今年第三季度成为2003年夏季以来美国经济增长最为强劲的季度。
The stronger data was greeted happily on Wall Street, with the Dow Jones industrial average closing above the 18,000 level for the first time. The broader Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index also hit a record high, while the Nasdaq dropped slightly.
强劲的数据让华尔街欢欣鼓舞，道琼斯工业平均指数(Dow Jones Industrial Average)首次收于18,000点的水平之上。更宏观的标准普尔500指数(Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index)也达到创纪录的高点，纳斯达克指数(Nasdaq)则小幅下挫。
The Dow is now up 8.7 percent for the year, while the S.&P. 500 has risen 12.7 percent.
道指今年迄今为止已上涨8.7%，与此同时，标普500指数上扬了12.7%。
Although the growth rate is expected to decelerate somewhat in the current fourth quarter, the improved view in the rearview mirror corresponds with other evidence suggesting that the economy is moving to a higher gear.
尽管在当前的四季度，经济增幅预计将有所下滑，但对之前经济数据的向上修正和其他一些证据均指向了同一个事实，即美国经济正在换挡加速。
“The data today is very consistent with a U.S. consumer that is doing quite well,” said Michael Gapen, chief United States economist at Barclays. “Consumers are receiving a boost in the form of lower gas prices, but they are also feeling more confident about their own futures because of the stronger labor market.”
“今天公布的数据与美国消费者相当不错的表现是极为相符的，”巴克莱(Barclays)的美国市场首席经济师迈克尔·加彭(Michael Gapen)说。“消费者受到了较低的汽油价格的鼓舞，不过他们也因为劳动力市场变得更为强劲而对自己的未来更加有信心了。”
In a separate Commerce Department report Tuesday morning, the government stated that personal spending jumped 0.6 percent in November, slightly more than expected, while October’s increase was revised upward by 0.1 percentage point to 0.3 percent. Personal income jumped by 0.4 percent in November, the Commerce Department said, ahead of the 0.3 percent rise in October and the 0.2 percent increase in September.
在商务部周二上午发布的另一份报告中，政府表示，11月份的个人支出增长了0.6%，略高于预期，与此同时，10月的增幅向上修正了0.1%，至0.3%。商务部还称，11月份的个人收入升高了0.4%，超过了10月的0.3%和9月的0.2%的增幅。
Unemployment has been steadily falling, and payrolls grew by more than 300,000 last month, a reading that was significantly better than expected. Similarly, consumers have gotten a big boost recently from the steep drop in gas prices since the summer. That is expected to lift holiday retail sales this month.
失业率一直在稳步回落。上月的新增就业人口超过30万，明显好于预期。同样，汽油价格自今夏以来大幅下跌，极大地提升了消费者的信心，并且预计还会拉动本月的假日零售额。
“Consumption growth appears to have accelerated further in Q4, with plunging gasoline prices shifting upside to more discretionary areas,” Ted Wieseman, an economist with Morgan Stanley, said in a note to clients after the revised figures on economic growth were released.
“随着猛跌的汽油价格带动更多可自由支配领域开支的上升，第四季度的消费增长看来会进一步加速，”在经过修正的经济增长数据公布后，摩根士丹利(Morgan Stanley)的经济师特德·威斯曼(Ted Wieseman)在给客户的报告中写道。
The only negative indicator in Tuesday’s flood of economic data was a 0.7 percent drop in durable goods orders in November. But durable goods data, tracked by the Census Bureau, is often highly volatile on a month-to-month basis, and economists tend to put more weight on other factors like employment, consumer spending and income.
周二公布的大批经济数据中，唯一的消极指标是，11月份的耐用商品订单量回落了0.7%。不过，由美国人口普查局(Census Bureau)追踪的月度耐用商品数据，常会出现较大的环比变化，经济学家们往往更看重就业、消费者支出和收入等因素。
The year’s final Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan survey of consumer sentiment, also released Tuesday morning, recorded a small decrease to 93.6 from a preliminary 93.8 report. That still left overall consumer expectations in the survey at their best levels since January 2007, a year before the last recession began.
同样在周二上午，汤姆森路透/密歇根大学(Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan)最终版的年度消费者信心调查报告出炉。其中的数据，从初步报告中的93.8小幅下调至93.6。即便如此，调查中总的消费者预期依然处于2007年1月以来的最好水平，而那时是上一次衰退开始的前一年。
Despite signs of faster growth, the Federal Reserve remains cautious about raising short-term interest rates from near zero, where they have been since the depths of the financial crisis in 2008.
尽管有迹象表明经济增长加快了，但美联储(Federal Reserve)依然对提高短期利率持谨慎态度。自金融危机最严重的2008年以来，美国的短期利率一直处于接近零的水平。
The central bank is expected to raise rates in mid-2015, but it signaled last week that it would remain patient in order to confirm that faster growth looked sustainable and would translate into increased hiring over the long term.
作为美国的央行，美联储预计将在2015年中期提高利率。不过该机构上周表示将保持耐心，以便确定，长期而言，更快的增长看上去是可持续的，并且会转化成就业的增加。
Doug Handler, chief United States economist at IHS, a consulting firm, said the data released Tuesday, along with the recent jobs report and comments by Fed officials, “solidifies our expectations that some action will be taken in June.”
咨询公司环球通视(IHS)的美国市场首席经济师道格·汉德勒(Doug Handler)表示，周二公布的数据，连同最近的就业报告和联邦官员的评论，“巩固了我们对美联储明年6月会采取行动的预计。”
“It looks like we have a stronger economy than we thought a month ago,” he added, “which creates a compelling case for tightening.”
“看上去经济比我们一个月前认为的更加强劲，”他接着说，“创造了政策缩紧的有力理由。”
The latest data brings the average rate of growth in the first three quarters of 2014 to about 2.5 percent. Mr. Handler said he now expected fourth-quarter growth to be between 2.5 percent and 3 percent, up from an earlier estimate of roughly 2 percent, and predicted that the economy would grow 3 percent next year.
最新数据显示，2014年前三个季度的平均增速达到了大约2.5%。汉德勒表示，他现在预计第四季度的增幅在2.5%到3%之间，而不是早前估算的2%左右。他还预言，明年的经济增速将达3%。
The better-than-expected numbers Tuesday morning also prompted other experts to revise their forecasts upward. Macroeconomic Advisers, for example, lifted its estimate of fourth-quarter growth to 2.8 percent from an earlier forecast of 2.6 percent, while Goldman Sachs bumped its forecast to 2.6 percent from 2.2 percent.
周二上午发布的数据好于预期，也促使其他一些专业机构上调了各自的预测值。比如，宏观经济咨询公司(Macroeconomic Advisers)就将其对第四季度增幅的预估从早前的2.6%提至2.8%，而高盛(Goldman Sachs)也将预估数据从2.2%上调到了2.6%。
