美國零售業及通脹率均有所上揚

U.S. retail sales and inflation rose in January, strengthening the case for the central bank to raise interest rates.

Retail sales advanced four-tenths of a percent for the month. PNC Bank economists Gush Faucher says the gain is partly due to an improving labor market with "more jobs and rising wages" as workers become scarce.

Economists watch retail sales because consumer demand drives most U.S. economic activity.

A separate report shows U.S. consumer prices rose at the fastest pace in nearly four years, with costs gaining six-tenths of a percent in January and 2.5 percent in the past year.

The Federal Reserve works to keep prices rising at a modest two percent annual rate, and can raise interest rates to lower inflation.

美國零售銷售和通貨膨脹在1月份上升，為美聯儲繼續加息鋪路。

零售銷售本月增長0.4%。 PNC銀行經濟學家格斯·福奇說，上漲的部分原因是勞動力市場不斷改善，隨著工人變得越來越稀缺，造成“就業越來越多，工資越來越高”。

經濟學家密切觀察零售銷售，因為消費者需求驅動著大多數美國經濟活動。

另一份報告顯示，美國消費者價格在近四年內以最快的速度增長，1月份的成本增長了0.6%，過去一年的增長率為2.5％。

美聯儲致力于保持消費價格每年2％的適度增長，可以通過提高利率以降低通貨膨脹。