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Shortages and Bottlenecks Expose Weak Links in U.S. Supply Chains
U.S. 消费者不会很快忘记大流行初期个人防护装备短缺的问题, 或者第一批居家订餐引发了恐慌性抢购，导致厕纸短缺, cleaning products, and food.
Now, as the economy reopens fully and all at once, consumers are again experiencing a wide array of shortages. 企业在雇佣工人、获取生产所需的原材料和关键零部件方面都遇到了困难.
在经济关闭时关闭或缩减规模的企业无法迅速增长，以满足2021年春季的大量需求. COVID-19疫苗的迅速推广比预期更快地释放了这一被压抑的需求, catching many businesses off-guard. 与此同时，由于航运瓶颈，从海外订购的货物流动放缓.
其中一些供应中断是由特大灾难引发或加剧的, 消费者和企业的恐慌性购买加剧了更严重的短缺.
以下是一些影响企业供应链和区域经济的事件, nationally, and globally — in the first half of 2021.
Gas Crisis
In mid-May, a ransomware attack led to the multi-day shutdown of a 5,500英里长的管道负责供应东海岸45%的燃料. Existing stockpiles might have held up, but news of the outage caused a run on gasoline, 北卡罗来纳州州长宣布进入紧急状态, Georgia, Virginia, and Florida. 每加仑汽油的平均价格飙升至六年半以来的最高点, 但在严重依赖管道的州，增幅更大.1–2
Trade Disrupted
由于交货时间延长，部分原材料和从海外购买的多种消费品出现短缺. 最繁忙的西海岸港口的拥堵使得来自世界各地的数十艘大型集装箱船在加利福尼亚海岸抛锚, waiting to unload. These log jams peaked in February 2021, when imports surged. 现在港口工人可以接种疫苗了，运营商打算在夏天前清除积压的疫苗.3 In March, 一艘搁浅的货船对苏伊士运河进行了6天的封锁，造成了国际贸易的大规模中断. Globally, container ship capacity is stretched and demand is high, so costs could remain elevated for some time.4
Texas Freeze
In mid-February, a brutal winter storm knocked out the power grid in Texas, shut down numerous chemical plants, 并冻结了用于包装和制造许多商品所需材料的塑料的生产, including auto parts, computers, PVC piping, and paint. This resulted in global shortages, production delays, and higher costs for manufacturers and homebuilders, which will likely be passed on to buyers.5
The same storm closed major chicken-processing plants. Large losses of chicks and eggs, on top of COVID-19–related staffing problems, 导致了全国鸡肉短缺和餐馆价格上涨.6
Lumber and Housing
When the pandemic hit, many U.S. 木材加工厂关闭了，人们预计住房需求将会下降. However, after a brief pause, demand for homes and home remodeling took off, surprising builders and domestic lumber producers. The price of lumber was already rising due to tariffs, 但自2020年4月以来，它已经飙升了超过300%，导致一套新的独栋住宅的价格上涨了近36美元,000.7
Chips and Cars
A global shortage of semiconductors, or computer chips, is limiting the production of all kinds of goods, including home appliances, cars, PCs, gaming systems, servers, and 5G equipment. 芯片短缺的影响深远，但在新车和二手车市场最为明显. 汽车制造商已被迫减产超过1辆.2 million vehicles in North America. 经销商库存紧张，新车和二手车的价格引起了价格休克.8–9
The U.S. 参议院正在讨论一项两党议案，该议案将pg电子1000亿美元用于研究, commercialization, and training programs to boost critical technologies, including the domestic production of semiconductors.10
Labor Concerns
一些雇主报告说很难找到愿意接受低工资工作的工人, 而人员配备问题是造成短缺的一个因素. 一些工人可能不愿意接受工作，因为增加的失业福利提供了比他们通常通过工作挣得更多的收入. For others, 由于缺乏儿童看护或技能差距，参与劳动力市场的机会更加有限. To attract much-needed workers, 零售业和餐饮业的一些大型雇主已经提高了入门级工资. 至少有22个州计划在今年夏天结束300美元的联邦福利，以刺激更多的人寻找工作.11
Hard Lessons
自疫情爆发以来，企业不得不在巨大的不确定性中做出艰难的决定. Some supply constraints could ease in the coming months, but other problems, like the chip shortage, could take longer to resolve. 最近的事件也提醒pg电子，关键的能源控制系统和基础设施容易受到网络攻击和天气事件的影响, 当能源供应商被打垮时，破坏可能会波及整个经济.
In April 2021, inflation shot up 4.2% over the previous year, the highest rate since 2008. 供给和需求之间的不匹配正在推高消费价格, 是什么原因使许多经济学家相信春季的通胀上升将主要是“暂时的”.”12 Regardless, prices rarely fall once they have risen, 这意味着即使是短暂的通胀爆发也会给消费者带来痛苦.
通胀的长期路径仍不明朗，可能取决于尚未做出的经济政策决定. 此外，美国的经济前景很大程度上将取决于美国的经济前景.S. businesses react to the challenges they are facing, 企业领导人是否能够重塑他们的战略，pg电子于加强未来供应链的方式.