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美国人选总统 最关心经济和就业

Unemployment is a key issue in the U.S. presidential election, and on Friday the government publishes the last official jobless rate before voters go to the polls on November 6. More than 12 million Americans are out of work, another eight million have found only part-time jobs, and still others have stopped searching for work. There are different opinions about the job situation from voters in North Carolina, Ohio, and Washington, D.C.

失业问题是美国总统选举中的一个关键问题。星期五，美国劳工部在11月6号大选前公布的最新官方统计数字显示，美国10月份增加了171,000个工作，但是失业率上升到7.9%。目前美国有1200万人失业，另有800万人只找到了零工。还有些人已经放弃寻找工作。在美国的北卡罗莱纳州、俄亥俄州和首都华盛顿特区，选民对目前的就业状况看法不同。

Jobless Americans are concerned about the high unemployment rate.

失业的美国人对目前的高失业率感到担心。

"If Mitt¹ Romney gets into office he is going to have to get these young black men and old black men jobs,” said Jeff Smith, who currently is unemployed².

杰夫.史密斯说，“如果罗姆尼当选总统，他必须让这些年轻的和年老的黑人找到工作。”

Larry Guinn, a small business owner, said economic uncertainty³ makes him reluctant to hire new workers.

小企业主拉瑞.坤宁说，经济不稳定，所以他不愿雇佣新的员工：

“I just see more and more unemployment in the country, and that’s not good for America," said Guinn.

“失业人口越来越多，这对美国不利。”

Some Ohio voters, including Catholic priest Joseph Rudjak, say jobs are available.

天主教神父约瑟夫.拉德加克等俄亥俄州的一些选民说，就业机会是有的。

"I don’t see people here terribly disturbed by the unemployment rate. There are opportunities for simple jobs, low-paying jobs,” said Rudjak.

他说：“我看，人们对失业率并不是很担心，找简单工作、低收入工作还是有机会的。”

Ohio businessman Gus Hoyes said the job market is getting better, but he's not sure if President Barack Obama should get credit for the change.

俄亥俄州的商人加斯.霍耶斯说，就业市场在改善，但是他并不确定这应当归功于奥巴马。

“There is a positive upflow. Is that the result of what Obama has done over the past four years? For me that is hard to determine if that is something that has been caused by his leadership,” said Hoyes.

他说：“就业人数有所增加，这是奥巴马执政四年的结果吗？我认为，很难说这是奥巴马领导的结果。”

Voters will look more at the unemployment trend rather than at the exact level, says University of Mary Washington political scientist Chad Murphy.

玛丽·华盛顿大学的政治学学者查德墨菲说，选民们会更关注失业的趋势而不是失业的水平。

“What’s important is the trend," he said. "Do you feel like things have gotten better for you?”

他说：“重要的是趋势， 你认为你目前的状况比以前更好吗？”

That’s why the president says the economy was losing hundreds of thousands of jobs a month when he took office, but now is gaining jobs.

所以奥巴马总统说，他上任时，美国经济每月都失去几十万个就业机会，但现在就业机会增加了。

Rival Mitt Romney said the recovery is weak and blames Obama’s economic policies.

罗姆尼则说，美国经济恢复缓慢，这都是奥巴马的经济政策造成的。

Being jobless at a time of high unemployment makes people more likely to vote, said Princeton University's Matthew Incantalupo.

普林斯顿大学的马修.英坎塔鲁说，在失业率很高的时候失去工作，人们就更有可能投票：

“Experiencing job loss, going through unemployment, is actually a mobilizing phenomenon. Individuals who experience unemployment when and where the unemployment rate is high, are more likely to vote than people who had not gone through job loss," he said.

“经历失业，会起到动员作用。跟就业者相比，在失业率高的时候和失业率高的地方，失业者更有可能参加投票。”

High unemployment usually is a big problem for the incumbent⁴, Incantalupo said, but that may be softened⁵ in this case because the jobless are disproportionately young or members of minority groups, and they tend to be Obama supporters.

高失业率对现任总统来说通常是个大问题。但是马修.英坎塔鲁说，这一次奥巴马可能不会太受影响，因为失业人口不成比例地是年轻人和少数族裔，而他们大都是支持奥巴马的。

Recent data showing a slight drop in the jobless numbers brought allegations that government officials had manipulated the data to help Obama.

最近的数据显示失业率略有下降，有人认为政府官员操纵数据，企图帮助奥巴马当选。

Tracking unemployment is an inexact science, said University of Michigan researcher Don Grimes.

密西根大学的研究人员格兰姆斯说，测算失业率并不是精确的科学。

“I don’t believe that there was any indication that these numbers, while unusual, were statistically⁶ not valid," he said.

他说：“虽然这些数字不同寻常，但是我认为，没有迹象表明这些数字在统计上是站不住脚的。”

Grimes said news stories and politicians make too big a deal of slight changes in the unemployment numbers, which he said probably do not show much actual change in the economy.

格兰姆斯说，新闻报道和政客们过份看重失业数字的微小变化。他认为，这些数字并不能说明经济有多大变化。