美国国家公共电台 NPR Hiring Slows Amid Trade Tensions, With Only 75,000 Jobs Added In May

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

We got some sobering news today about the U.S. job market. Employers added just 75,000 jobs last month, which is well below analysts¹' expectations. And it's a significant slowdown from the two previous months. Wage growth also slowed a bit while the unemployment rate held steady at a low 3.6%. NPR economics correspondent Scott Horsley is in the studio to talk about these numbers.

Hi, Scott.

SCOTT HORSLEY, BYLINE²: Good morning, Rachel.

MARTIN: Seems like not that long ago, you were right here in that same seat, probably talking about a blockbuster jobs number. So what happened?

HORSLEY: A lot of people are going to be pointing to the ongoing³ trade war, Rachel. May is the month when President Trump⁴ ratcheted up his trade battle with China, boosting tariffs⁵ on some $200 billion worth of Chinese imports. Now, of course, we have the possibility of a new front in the trade war with Mexico. And all of this creates some uncertainty⁶ for business people, who are trying to make plans, trying to make investments, trying to make hiring decisions. Manufacturing, which is especially trade-sensitive, has seen slow job growth for a number of months now. And that continued in May, when we added just 3,000 factory jobs. Tim Quinlan, who is a senior economist⁷ at Wells Fargo, says that's consistent with some of the other indicators⁸ we've seen this week of a slowdown in the manufacturing sector⁹.

TIM QUINLAN: There's increasing evidence that the ongoing trade war here is beginning to have some tangible¹⁰ effects on the U.S. economy.

HORSLEY: And we're also seeing a general slowdown in the much larger services sector. Private employers added just 82,000 service jobs last month. That's less than half the number they added the month before. And, Rachel, the Labor¹¹ Department revised its job growth figures for March and April, down by a combined 75,000 jobs. So all around, this is a pretty weak employment report.

MARTIN: Unemployment, though, is still near a 50-year low, so does that mean that workers can expect pay raises?

HORSLEY: Wages are still going up, although not quite so fast as they had been. For the year ending last month, wage gains averaged 3.1%. That's down just a tick from the 3.2% figure we saw in April. One thing to keep in mind - part of the reason the unemployment rate is so low - near this 50-year low - is that a lot of people dropped out of the labor market in March and April. We saw labor force participation¹² fall in those months by four-tenths of a percentage point, which is pretty significant.

In May, the participation rate held steady, but we still have less than 63% of eligible¹³ workers actually working or looking for work. That's pretty low by historical standards. And so long as there's this sort of untapped army of people who are not working but could be, we may not see a lot more upward pressure on wages.

MARTIN: How's this going to affect interest rates set by the Fed?

HORSLEY: Well, the Federal Reserve's rate setting committee is set to meet less than two weeks, and this is going to raise the pressure on the Fed to cut interest rates - maybe not this month but sooner rather than later. The stock market is clearly anticipating a rate cut sometime in the near future, and that's contributed to the big rally we've seen on Wall Street this week.

MARTIN: NPR chief economic correspondent Scott Horsley for us.

Thanks, Scott.

HORSLEY: You're welcome.

1 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。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

4 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

5 tariffs   

关税制度； 关税( tariff的名词复数 )； 关税表； （旅馆或饭店等的）收费表； 量刑标准

参考例句：

• British industry was sheltered from foreign competition by protective tariffs. 保护性关税使英国工业免受国际竞争影响。
• The new tariffs have put a stranglehold on trade. 新的关税制对开展贸易极为不利。

6 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。

7 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。

8 indicators   

（仪器上显示温度、压力、耗油量等的）指针( indicator的名词复数 )； 指示物； （车辆上的）转弯指示灯； 指示信号

参考例句：

• The economic indicators are better than expected. 经济指标比预期的好。
• It is still difficult to develop indicators for many concepts used in social science. 为社会科学领域的许多概念确立一个指标仍然很难。

9 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。

10 tangible   

adj.有形的，可触摸的，确凿的，实际的

参考例句：

• The policy has not yet brought any tangible benefits.这项政策还没有带来任何实质性的好处。
• There is no tangible proof.没有确凿的证据。

11 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。

12 participation   

n.参与，参加，分享

参考例句：

• Some of the magic tricks called for audience participation.有些魔术要求有观众的参与。
• The scheme aims to encourage increased participation in sporting activities.这个方案旨在鼓励大众更多地参与体育活动。

13 eligible   

adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的

参考例句：

• He is an eligible young man.他是一个合格的年轻人。
• Helen married an eligible bachelor.海伦嫁给了一个中意的单身汉。