美国人买便宜衣服的日子一去不复返

　　美国人买便宜衣服的日子一去不复返

　　FOR decades, declining prices have helped American consumers spend less on one critical part of every family’s budget: clothing. But those days may be ending.

　　数十年来，价格的下降让美国消费者在家庭预算的一个重要组成部分上支出减少了，这部分就是服装。但这样的日子可能会一去不复返。

　　The government reported this week that consumer prices for apparel rose 0.6 percent in 2013. That is hardly rampant inflation, but it was the third consecutive year that apparel prices increased. Before 2011, those prices had risen in only two of the previous 13 years.

　　根据美国政府本周发布的报告，服装的消费价格在2013年上涨了0.6%。涨幅虽然小，但已经是服装价格连续第三年上涨。在2011年之前的13年里，服装价格只有两年出现过上涨。

　　The long stretch of falling apparel prices was largely attributable to an era of cheap imports, as China emerged from economic isolation to become the world’s largest exporter. That emergence damaged the apparel industries in all major industrial countries, but it was a boon to living standards for consumers, who were left with more money for other purchases.

　　服装价格长期下降的主要原因，是中国对外开放经济，逐渐成为世界上最大的出口国，一个以低廉价格进口服装的时代也随之形成。这让所有主要工业国家的服装生产业蒙受了损失，但对于消费者的生活水平而言却是一个福音，因为大家可以省下更多的钱来购买其他东西。

　　In 1987, apparel accounted for 5.4 percent of all personal consumption spending in the United States. By 2009, that figure was down to 3.1 percent. In 2012, the year for which data is available, the figure had recovered a little, to 3.2 percent.

　　1987年，服装占美国全部个人消费支出的5.4%。到2009年，这一数字下降到3.1%。2012年略有回升，达3.2%。2013年的数据尚未出来。

　　What may have marked the end of the era came in 2010, when unfavorable weather reduced cotton production in all three of the world’s largest producers — China, India and the United States. India briefly banned exports, and prices began to rise. In early 2011, the price of cotton briefly reached $2.19 a pound, compared with less than 70 cents at the beginning of 2010.

　　2010年发生的事件可能标志着以低廉价格进口服装的时代结束了，在那一年，恶劣气候导致中国、印度和美国这三个全球最大的棉花生产国产量减少。印度直接禁止了出口，棉花价格开始攀升。2011年上半年，棉花价格曾短暂升至每磅2.19美元(约合人民币13.25元)，这个数字在2010年年初还不到70美分。

　　The price of cotton was back under $1 by the end of 2011, but that move helped to push American apparel inflation to 4.6 percent in 2011, the highest figure since 1990 and well above the overall inflation rate of 3 percent. It was the first time since 1991 that apparel prices had risen more than the overall inflation rate.

　　2011年底，棉花价格又回到1美元以下，但之前的一波升势已经把美国服装的通胀率推至了2011年的4.6%，创下自1990年以来的最高记录，远高于当年3%的整体通胀率。这是自1991年以来，服装价格的上涨第一次超过了整体通胀率。

　　The apparel inflation rate fell to 1.8 percent in 2012, a small amount over the inflation rate, and to 0.6 percent in 2013, well below the overall 1.5 percent rate.

　　2012年，服装通胀率降至1.8%，略高于整体通胀率;2013年为0.6%，远低于1.5%的整体通胀率。

　　This week’s report showed that apparel prices fell in December, as they always do during holiday sales. But the decline of 2.3 percent for the month was the smallest such dip in December in eight years — perhaps an indication that clothing retailers were more successful at avoiding deep discounts than they were in previous years. On a seasonally adjusted basis, the Bureau of Labor Statistics concluded, apparel prices were up 0.9 percent from November.

　　本周的报告显示，去年的服装价格在12月出现了下滑，每年的圣诞销售季都会出现这样的情况。但2.3%的月跌幅是8年以来12月跌幅中最小的——也许这是一个迹象，表明跟以前相比，服装零售商更成功地避免了大幅折价出售商品。对季节性因素进行调整之后，美国劳工统计局(Bureau of Labor Statistics)的数据显示，去年12月的服装价格比11月上涨了0.9%。

　　China remains a force for deflation in the world, but perhaps less than it was. With wages rising, it has lost some of its business in inexpensive apparel production to other countries, including Vietnam and Bangladesh. China provided a record 19.4 percent of American imports in the 12 months through November, but that figure is no longer rising at a rapid rate.

　　中国仍然是一支全球性的通货紧缩力量，但其力度可能已经不如从前。随着中国工资水平的上涨，它在廉价服装生产领域的部分地盘已被越南和孟加拉国等国蚕食。到去年11月截止的12个月中，美国进口服装的19.4%来自中国，这个数字虽然创下新高，但增幅已经放缓了。

　　Over the last 27 years — since the end of 1986 — American apparel prices have risen only 17 percent. The weakest prices have been in children’s clothing, an area where (parental) buyers may be particularly price-sensitive. The figures indicate that boys’ clothing prices rose a scant 1 percent over the period, while girls’ clothing prices declined 6 percent. Men’s clothing prices rose more rapidly than women’s, but shoes, up 29 percent over the period, rose more rapidly than any category of clothing.

　　在自1986年年底开始的过去27年中，美国服装价格只上涨了17%。儿童服装一直是增长最为乏力的门类，这可能是因为父母买家对该门类的价格特别敏感。数据表明，男孩服装类价格涨幅仅为1%，而同期女孩服装类价格下降了6%。男士服装价格上涨速度快于女士服装，但同期鞋类价格增幅达29%，高于服装的所有其他门类。