美国有线新闻 CNN 美国经济数据好坏参半 不确定性犹存

Buckle¹ up you all because we're taking a ride on a rollercoaster called the U.S. economy and where it's headed nobody knows. Here's the good news. The U.S. Commerce Department says between July and September, the economy grew a lot. The biggest measure of economic activity is the nation's growth domestic² product, the total value of the goods and services the country produces, and the government says America's GDP grew by 7.4 percent in the summer months. That's a record. Never since the government started keeping track of the GDP in 1947 has the economy grown that much in a single quarter.

大家系好安全带，因为我们正在乘坐“美国经济”过山车，其去向无人知晓。先来说好消息。美国商务部表示，7月至9月，美国经济增长了很多。衡量经济活动的最重要指标是美国国内生产总值（简称GDP），即国家生产商品和服务的总价值，政府表示，美国夏季GDP增长了7.4%。这创下了新记录。自1947年政府开始记录国内生产总值以来，美国经济从未在一个季度内增长如此之快。

And that growth came at a faster rate than economists³ had predicted. A major factor in this was the lifting of the lockdowns. When businesses and retail⁴ stores were allowed to open their doors again after the mandatory⁵ closures of the Spring, that had the goal of slowing the spread of coronavirus. So, what's the bad news? Well virus cases in most states are on the rise. Economic analysts⁶ are concerned that could put a drag on the economy once again. When comparing the number of jobs in America, the Labor⁷ Department says there were 10.7 million fewer jobs in September than there were in February. And even though America's GDP grew by 7.4 percent in the summer, it had dropped by 9 percent in the Spring.

而且这一增长速度超出了经济学家的预期。其中一个主要因素是解除了封锁。这段时间，为减缓冠状病毒的传播而实施的春季强制停业解除，企业和零售店获准重新开业。那坏消息是什么？大多数州的病毒病例都在上升。经济分析人士担心这可能再次拖累经济。对美国就业人数进行对比后，美国劳工部表示，9月份美国就业人数比2月份减少了1070万。尽管美国国内生产总值在夏季增长了7.4%，但在春天却下降了9%。

So, the economy still has ways to go to get back to how things were before the virus struck and the future is hard to predict for several reasons.

因此，美国经济要想恢复到病毒袭击前的状况还有很长的路要走，而且未来很难预测，原因有几个。

One, there's an election coming up in four days. We don't know how it will shape the government's economic plans moving forward. Two, COVID-19 hasn't gone away. We don't know if or how it will impact consumer spending moving forward. Three, France just imposed⁸ another national lockdown through the end of November. Similar to what Germany did earlier this week. Could that happen again in the United States? All of these are events that could have a major impact on the future of the economy.

其一，四天后将举行选举。我们不知道选举会如何影响政府未来的经济计划。其二，新冠肺炎尚未消失。我们不知道这是否或如何影响未来的消费者支出。其三，法国刚刚再次启动全国封锁，时间持续至11月底。这与德国本周早些时候采取的措施类似。美国会否再次封锁？所有这些事件都可能对未来经济产生重大影响。

1 buckle   

n.扣子，带扣；v.把...扣住，由于压力而弯曲

参考例句：

• The two ends buckle at the back.带子两端在背后扣起来。
• She found it hard to buckle down.她很难专心做一件事情。

2 domestic   

adj.家里的，国内的，本国的；n.家仆，佣人

参考例句：

• This is domestic news.这是国内新闻。
• She does the domestic affairs every day.她每天都忙家务。

3 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

5 mandatory   

adj.命令的；强制的；义务的；n.受托者

参考例句：

• It's mandatory to pay taxes.缴税是义务性的。
• There is no mandatory paid annual leave in the U.S.美国没有强制带薪年假。

6 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

7 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。

8 imposed   

自己担负的

参考例句：

• The decree imposed strict censorship of the media. 这个法令强制实行严格的媒体审查制度。
• The army imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew. 军队强制实行黄昏至黎明的宵禁。