2015年经济学人 西班牙经济 伊比利亚的黎明

Spain's economy

Iberian dawn

The labour market is recovering at last. But it needs further reform

THIS was the news the government had been waiting for.

“Spain's labour market has made a 180-degree turn,” crowed the prime minister, Mariano Rajoy,

as the country announced the first annual rise in employment in six years.

The numbers show that unpopular reforms to the malfunctioning¹ labour market are starting to work. But there is plenty left to do.

In the past year Spain has created 190,000 jobs. T

he unemployment rate, still one of the highest in the euro zone, fell from 26% to 24.5% (see chart),

and the labour force stopped shrinking after six straight quarters of decline.

The labour reform in 2012 gave companies more flexibility² to set wages

and working conditions themselves rather than through sector-wide bargaining,

and cut severance³ payments for unfair dismissals.

Those changes, buttressed⁴ by a deal between unions and employers,

tempered wage growth that had far outstripped⁵ gains in productivity.

How much credit do they deserve for the upturn⁶ in employment?

The answer may determine the political fate of Mr Rajoy,

who defied street protests to push reform through and faces a general election by the end of next year.

The opposition⁷ Socialist⁸ Party claims that the number of unemployed⁹ has risen by more than 600,000 since Mr Rajoy took office in 2011,

despite the reforms. Pedro Sanchez, the party's new secretary-general, promises to repeal¹⁰ them if it regains¹¹ power.

That would be a mistake. Other factors contributed to the jobs recovery, especially the “whatever it takes”

pledge by the European Central Bank two years ago to save the euro.

But reform played an important role, says Rafael Domenech, an economist¹² at BBVA, a bank.

One piece of evidence is that Spain is creating jobs at lower rates of GDP growth than before.

In previous cycles, employment rose when growth hit 2%. This time the gain came during a year when GDP expanded by just 1.2%.

To make a serious dent¹³ in unemployment, however, Spain will need to be more ambitious.

Without further changes, the jobless rate will not dip below 20% until 2019, according to the IMF.

The structural¹⁴ unemployment rate—the level reached when the economy is working at capacity—is 18%, triple that of America.

One problem is that many small companies (with ten workers or fewer) have not benefited from greater flexibility.

That is because the process of opting¹⁵ out of sector-wide agreements can be cumbersome¹⁶. Such opt-outs could be made easier.

Another is that nearly a quarter of workers are still on temporary contracts.

This is damaging, because they are much less productive than those with permanent jobs and employers do not invest in them.

One way to encourage firms to hire permanent workers would be to cut severance payments to the levels of other European countries.

Nor has much been done for the 3.5m people who have been jobless for more than a year, says Marcel Jansen of Madrid's Autónoma University.

Many are poorly educated: Spain has one of the highest school drop-out rates in the OECD.

Those with qualifications often find that they are not the ones employers want.

The answers, says Mr Jansen, include spending more on retraining and overhauling¹⁷ state-run employment offices,

which do a poor job of matching workers' skills with local employers' needs.

The government has tightened¹⁸ rules for people receiving unemployment benefit to encourage them to look for work or to take training courses.

But they need to be effectively enforced.

The government could lower the cost of hiring workers by cutting social-security contributions, which are high by European standards.

A rise in value-added tax could pay for that. Others advocate lowering the minimum wage for unskilled workers.

Mr Rajoy says he will not let up on reform until Spain's unemployment plague becomes merely a “sad” episode in history.

He has started talks with unions and employers on a package of job-friendly measures, to be hammered out after the summer break.

But with elections looming¹⁹, few expect it to be bold.

1 malfunctioning   

出故障

参考例句：

• But something was malfunctioning in the equipment due to human error. 但由于人为的错误，设备发生故障了。 来自超越目标英语 第4册
• Choke coils are useful for prevention of malfunctioning electronic equipment. 扼流圈对于防止电器设备的故障很有帮助。 来自互联网

2 flexibility   

n.柔韧性，弹性，（光的）折射性，灵活性

参考例句：

• Her great strength lies in her flexibility.她的优势在于她灵活变通。
• The flexibility of a man's muscles will lessen as he becomes old.人老了肌肉的柔韧性将降低。

3 severance   

n.离职金；切断

参考例句：

• Those laid off received their regular checks,plus vacation and severance pay.那些被裁的人都收到他们应得的薪金，再加上假期和解职的酬金。Kirchofer was terminated,effective immediately--without severance or warning.科奇弗被解雇了，立刻生效--而且没有辞退费或者警告。

4 buttressed   

v.用扶壁支撑，加固( buttress的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The court buttressed its decision. 法院支持自己的判决。 来自辞典例句
• The emotional appeal was buttressed with solid and specific policy details. 情感的感召有坚实的和详细的政策细节支持。 来自互联网

5 outstripped   

v.做得比…更好，（在赛跑等中）超过( outstrip的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• That manufacturer outstripped all his competitors in sales last year. 那个制造商家去年的销售量超过了所有竞争对手。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The imagination of her mother and herself had outstripped the truth. 母亲和她自己的想象力远远超过了事实。 来自辞典例句

6 upturn   

n.情况好转

参考例句：

• Experts have forecast an upturn in the stock market.专家已预测股票市场价格有上升趋势。
• The economy is experiencing an upturn.经济正在好转。

7 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

8 socialist   

n.社会主义者；adj.社会主义的

参考例句：

• China is a socialist country,and a developing country as well.中国是一个社会主义国家，也是一个发展中国家。
• His father was an ardent socialist.他父亲是一个热情的社会主义者。

9 unemployed   

adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的

参考例句：

• There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
• The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。

10 repeal   

n.废止，撤消；v.废止，撤消

参考例句：

• He plans to repeal a number of current policies.他计划废除一些当前的政策。
• He has made out a strong case for the repeal of the law.他提出强有力的理由，赞成废除该法令。

11 regains   

复得( regain的第三人称单数 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地

参考例句：

• It will take a lot of repair work before the theatre regains its former splendour. 要想剧院重拾昔日的辉煌，必须进行大规模整修。
• He lays down the book and regains the consciousness. 他惊悸初定，掩卷细思。

12 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

13 dent   

n.凹痕，凹坑；初步进展

参考例句：

• I don't know how it came about but I've got a dent in the rear of my car.我不知道是怎么回事，但我的汽车后部有了一个凹痕。
• That dent is not big enough to be worth hammering out.那个凹陷不大，用不着把它锤平。

14 structural   

adj.构造的，组织的，建筑（用）的

参考例句：

• The storm caused no structural damage.风暴没有造成建筑结构方面的破坏。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities.北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。

15 opting   

v.选择，挑选( opt的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• What courses are most students opting for? 多数学生选什么课程？ 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Wells doesn't rule out opting out and then re-signing with Houston. 威尔斯没有排除跳出合同再与火箭重签的可能。 来自互联网

16 cumbersome   

adj.笨重的，不便携带的

参考例句：

• Although the machine looks cumbersome,it is actually easy to use.尽管这台机器看上去很笨重，操作起来却很容易。
• The furniture is too cumbersome to move.家具太笨，搬起来很不方便。

17 overhauling   

n.大修；拆修；卸修；翻修v.彻底检查( overhaul的现在分词 )；大修；赶上；超越

参考例句：

• I had no chance of overhauling him. 我没有赶上他的可能。 来自辞典例句
• Some sites need little alterations but some need total overhauling. 有些网站需要做出细微修改，而有些网站就需要整体改版。 来自互联网

18 tightened   

收紧( tighten的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）变紧； （使）绷紧； 加紧

参考例句：

• The rope holding the boat suddenly tightened and broke. 系船的绳子突然绷断了。
• His index finger tightened on the trigger but then relaxed again. 他的食指扣住扳机，然后又松开了。

19 looming   

n.上现蜃景（光通过低层大气发生异常折射形成的一种海市蜃楼）v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的现在分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近

参考例句：

• The foothills were looming ahead through the haze. 丘陵地带透过薄雾朦胧地出现在眼前。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Then they looked up. Looming above them was Mount Proteome. 接着他们往上看，在其上隐约看到的是蛋白质组山。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 回顾与展望