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The world this week--Business
本周國際要聞--商業
The annual rate of inflation in America rose again in December, to 2.9%, the third consecutive increase.
美國12月份的年通貨膨脹率再次上升，達到2.9%，這是連續第三個月上升。
Although there was some relief that the core rate softened, markets expect the Federal Reserve to now slow its pace of interest-rate cuts.
雖然核心利率回軟讓人松了一口氣，但市場預計美聯儲現在將放慢降息步伐。
Economists warn that inflation will only strengthen if the new Trump administration imposes a harsh tariff regime.
經濟學家警告稱，如果特朗普新政府實施嚴厲的關稅制度，通脹只會加劇。
The sell-off eased in bond markets, but yields remain high, adding to governments’ debt load, especially in Britain, where higher yields have upended the government’s fiscal plans.
債券市場的拋售有所緩解，但收益率仍然居高不下，增加了政府的債務負擔，特別是在英國，較高的收益率已經顛覆了政府的財政計劃。
Investors in Britain found some relief when inflation there unexpectedly slowed in December, to 2.5%, Argentina’s annual inflation rate eased again in December to 117.8%.
去年12月，英國的通貨膨脹率出人意料地放緩至2.5%，阿根廷的年通貨膨脹率在12月再次回落至117.8%，這讓英國投資者松了一口氣。
The peak last year was 289% in April.
去年的峰值是4月份的289%。
The month-on-month rate in December rose slightly to 2.7%; in December 2023 it stood at 25.5%.
12月份的環比利率略有上升至2.7%；2023年12月的環比利率為25.5%。
The German economy shrank by 0.2% in 2024, after contracting by 0.3% in 2023.
德國經濟在2023年收縮0.3%后，2024年又萎縮了0.2%。
Output from construction was down by 3.8% and from manufacturing by 3%, in part because of the problems that Chinese competition and the transition to electric vehicles are causing Germany’s car industry.
建筑業的產出下降了3.8%，制造業的產出下降了3%，部分原因是來自中國的競爭和向電動汽車的過渡給德國汽車業帶來了問題。
Volkswagen’s global sales fell by 2.3% in 2024.
大眾汽車2024年全球銷量下降2.3%。
In China VW’s sales plunged by 10%.
在中國，大眾的銷量暴跌了10%。
Oil prices rose to their highest levels since August, because of the new sanctions America has imposed on Russia’s oil industry to try to curb its exports.
油價升至8月份以來的最高水平，因為美國對俄羅斯石油業實施了新的制裁，試圖遏制其出口。
Brent crude traded above $82 a barrel; at the start of the year it was around $75.
布倫特原油的交易價格高于每桶82美元；今年年初，它的價格約為每桶75美元。
The resurgence of China’s exports last year helped push its annual trade surplus up by 21% to $992bn, a third of which was with the United States.
去年中國出口復蘇，使其年度貿易順差增加了21%，達到9920億美元，其中三分之一來自美國。
The Biden administration imposed further restrictions on exporting artificial-intelligence chips, including caps on exports of graphics processing units.
拜登政府對人工智能芯片的出口施加了進一步的限制，包括對圖形處理器的出口設置上限。
Nvidia, the leading supplier of GPUs, criticised the new rules as a “regulatory morass, drafted in secret and without proper legislative review”, which would “undermine” America’s leadership in the technology.
英偉達是圖形處理器的主要供應商，它批評新規則是“秘密起草的、沒有經過適當立法審查的監管泥潭”，這將“削弱”美國在圖形處理器技術領域的領導地位。
It also said that the first Trump administration laid the foundation for America’s success in AI, which is perhaps a plea for the incoming new government to scrap the restrictions.
它還表示，特朗普第一屆任期的政府為美國在人工智能領域的成功奠定了基礎，這可能是在懇求即將上任的新政府取消限制。
JPMorgan Chase reported a net profit of $14bn for the final quarter of 2024, a 50% increase from the same period in 2023.
摩根大通報告稱，2024年第四季度實現凈利潤140億美元，較2023年同期增長50%。
Profit at America’s biggest bank for the whole of 2024 came in at $58.5bn, a record for the firm.
這家美國最大的銀行在2024年全年的利潤達到585億美元，創下了該公司的紀錄。
Jamie Dimon, the bank’s chief executive, said businesses were “encouraged by expectations for a more pro-growth agenda”.
該行首席執行官杰米·戴蒙表示，企業“受到更有利于增長的議程預期的鼓舞”。
Goldman Sachs doubled its profit in the fourth quarter, to $4.1bn.
高盛第四季度利潤翻了一番，達到41億美元。
BlackRock, Citigroup and Wells Fargo also posted bumper earnings.
貝萊德、花旗集團和富國銀行也公布了豐厚的收益。
Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos’s rocket company, successfully launched its heavy-lift vehicle New Glenn into orbit.
杰夫·貝佐斯的火箭公司Blue Origin成功地將其重型運載火箭New Glenn送入軌道。
An attempt to recover its first stage failed, however.
然而，嘗試恢復其第一階段的努力失敗了。
