The income gap between the US’s richest and poorest metropolitan regions has reached its widest on record, shaping an uneven housing recovery that threatens to hold back the broader revival of the world’s largest economy.
美国最富有城市与最贫穷城市之间的收入差距扩大到有记录以来最大程度，导致房地产市场形成不均衡的复苏态势，可能会阻碍这个全球最大经济体的整体复苏。The gap has narrowed and widened in past cycles, but the rebound from the most recent financial crisis has seen the ratio at its most unequal since data collection began 45 years ago, fuelling policy makers’ concerns.
在过去的经济周期中，这一差距有时缩窄，有时扩大，但最近一次金融危机过后，这一比率处于45年来的最高水平，将加剧政策制定者的担忧。
Commerce and Labor Department data for the 100 largest metropolitan areas by population found the income disparity between the 10th most expensive region and the 90th by home prices in 2013 was the widest since records began in 1969.
根据美国商务与劳工部(Commerce and Labor Department)收集的100个最大城市（按人口计算）的数据，在2013年，如将这100个城市按房价由高到低排列，排位第10的城市与排位第90的城市间的收入差距，为1969年有记录以来最大。
The research, analysed for the Financial Times by property website Trulia, shows Boston, ranked at 10, reporting a per-capita income 1.61 times that of Cincinnati ranked at 90. At its low point in 1976, the gap was 1.36 times, between San Francisco and El Paso.
房地产网站Trulia为英国《金融时报》所做的研究显示，排名第10的波士顿的人均收入，是排名第90位的辛辛那提的1.61倍。这个比率在1976年时最低，当时旧金山与埃尔帕索的收入之比为1.36。A patchy labour market recovery has meant significant variations in job and income growth between regions across the US, which in turn has intensified the divergences across the country’s housing markets.
各地劳动力市场的不均衡复苏，导致美国不同地区的就业和收入增速存在巨大差距，进而加剧了美国各地房地产市场的差异。“Housing markets are playing out at very different speeds partly as a result of the lack of geographical breadth in the labour market. Certain sectors of the economy are performing better than others propelling some housing markets over others,” said Fannie Mae economist Mark Palim.
房利美(Fannie Mae)经济学家马克•帕里姆(Mark Palim)表示：“房地产市场的复苏速度差异很大，部分原因是劳动力市场参差不齐。一些经济领域的表现优于其他领域，这促使一些地方的房地产市场要好于其他地区。”While some areas are experiencing bubble-like conditions, others are flailing. In Austin, Texas, a surge in technology jobs has driven demand. But in Akron, Ohio, which is struggling to boost employment through a new manufacturing base, house purchases have been more muted. In the government town of Sacramento, California, anxious homebuyers are waiting on the sidelines after being priced out by investors.
一些地区的房市似乎已经出现了泡沫，但另一些则步履维艰。在德克萨斯州的奥斯丁，技术就业的大幅增加拉动了需求。而在俄亥俄州的阿克伦——该市正通过建设一个新制造业基地促进就业——住宅销售情况则较为低迷。在加州首府萨克拉门托，在被投资者炒出的高房价吓退后，其他购房者还在保持观望态度。Stanley Fischer, Janet Yellen’s deputy chairman at the Federal Reserve, highlighted the central bank’s concern about housing in a speech this week. “The housing sector was at the epicentre of the US financial crisis and recession and it continues to weigh on the recovery,” he said.
美联储(Fed)副主席斯坦利•费希尔(Stanley Fischer)本周在一次演讲中强调了美联储对房地产行业的担忧。他表示：“房地产行业是此次美国金融危机和衰退的震源，它将继续给经济复苏带来压力。”The number of Americans in work has passed pre-recession peaks. But there has been little lower and middle-wage growth.
美国就业人数已超过衰退前的峰值水平，但中低收入群体的薪资几乎未见增长。