Australia's Economy Faces a Year of Challenges

 　　Australia's resources-powered economy is facing a year of challenges.  Although the mining sector¹ continues to soar, other industries - most notably² manufacturing, tourism and finance - are shedding jobs in an increasingly two-speed economy.  Although Australia has managed to avoid the worst of the global economic crisis, the government warns that 2012 is likely to be a particularly tough year for employment.

　　Australia’s economy has been the envy of the developed world. But the "Wonder Down Under" is beginning to show a few cracks.

　　The strong Australian dollar is blamed for the loss of hundreds of jobs last month at Toyota in Melbourne, exposing the fragility of the country’s manufacturing sector.

　　"Shocking news for everybody, you know. For our families, you know, 350 people is really a lot," says a Toyota worker.

　　The Australian government says it is confident the economy will grow at a solid rate this year, although the Manufacturing Minister Kim Carr concedes that there will be some pain along the way.

　　The fact of the matter is that the high Australian dollar is causing great, great damage to our international markets, to our export program, because it is pushing the price up for Australian goods. And, as a consequence, the demand for Australian products is falling," said Kim Carr.

　　Mining boom

　　Australia avoided the worst of the global slowdown thanks to a mining boom fueled by sales of iron ore to China.  However, there are concerns that any easing of Chinese demand will cause problems.

　　"Australia is going to basically find that the global financial crisis that they thought they’d dodged³ is coming home to roost. Australia’s got problems on the commodity front through the Chinese slowing," said author and analyst⁴ Satyajit Das.

　　Das believes the soaring Australian dollar, which has doubled in value against its U.S. cousin in the past decade, is to blame for increased economic uncertainty⁵.

　　"The high Australian dollar is obviously making things very difficult for manufacturers, for tourism, for health tourism, for educational services and we are now seeing signs of that in terms of the slackening demand for labor⁶, particularly traditionally white collar areas, like in financial services," added Satyajit Das.

　　Higher unemployment ahead

　　Unemployment in Australia is at just above five percent. That figure is expected to rise this year. The non-mining sector is likely to suffer most. This week, 1,000 bank workers were told they were losing their jobs.

　　Fariborz Moshirian, a professor of finance at the University of New South Wales, believes Australia should not be so reliant on exports of commodities to China.

　　"There is no question that, if in China we are going to see a massive decline in economic activities," said Moshirian, "Australia is going to basically feel it very harshly simply because we don’t have a strong manufacturing or indeed banking⁷ sector to compensate⁸ for income losses associated with the mining boom. And, for that very reason [the] Australian economy requires a massive restructuring as we are benefiting from the mining boom so that our manufacturing, our financial services and our tourism industry will become more productive, more competitive and also our economy becomes more balanced rather than simply relying on one particular sector in the medium term."

　　But the head of the New South Wales Minerals Council, Stephen Galilee, believes the resources sector will continue to underpin⁹ the economy for many years to come.

　　"People have been forecasting the end of the resources boom for many years now and the end of the boom is nowhere in sight," he said. "The impact of global uncertainty has the potential to slow the rate of growth of that boom. But we are optimistic that demand for our mineral resources will continue to increase across the decades ahead."

　　However, Australia’s miners are worried that a carbon tax will damage their international competitiveness and cost jobs. The levy¹⁰ will force many big polluters to pay for each ton of carbon dioxide they emit and is scheduled to be implemented¹¹ in July.

1 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

2 notably   

adv.值得注意地，显著地，尤其地，特别地

参考例句：

• Many students were absent,notably the monitor.许多学生缺席，特别是连班长也没来。
• A notably short,silver-haired man,he plays basketball with his staff several times a week.他个子明显较为矮小，一头银发，每周都会和他的员工一起打几次篮球。

3 dodged   

v.闪躲( dodge的过去式和过去分词 )；回避

参考例句：

• He dodged cleverly when she threw her sabot at him. 她用木底鞋砸向他时，他机敏地闪开了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He dodged the book that I threw at him. 他躲开了我扔向他的书。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

5 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

6 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

7 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

8 compensate   

vt.补偿，赔偿；酬报 vi.弥补；补偿；抵消

参考例句：

• She used her good looks to compensate her lack of intelligence. 她利用她漂亮的外表来弥补智力的不足。
• Nothing can compensate for the loss of one's health. 一个人失去了键康是不可弥补的。

9 underpin   

v.加固，支撑

参考例句：

• China needs regional stability to underpin its continued economic growth.中国需要地区稳定来巩固其持续的经济增长。
• These developments are underpinned by solid progress in heavy industry.重工业的稳固发展为这些进展打下了基础。

10 levy   

n.征收税或其他款项，征收额

参考例句：

• They levy a tax on him.他们向他征税。
• A direct food levy was imposed by the local government.地方政府征收了食品税。

11 implemented   

v.实现( implement的过去式和过去分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• This agreement, if not implemented, is a mere scrap of paper. 这个协定如不执行只不过是一纸空文。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The economy is in danger of collapse unless far-reaching reforms are implemented. 如果不实施影响深远的改革，经济就面临崩溃的危险。 来自辞典例句