VOA英语2010年-US Economic Momentum Continues

More signs that the US economy is moving in the right direction: The US Labor¹ Department says new claims for unemployment benefits declined last week, dropping below 400,000 for the first time since July 2008. Other data also shows that businesses expanded in the month of December while home sales grew modestly in November. Despite the encouraging numbers, investors² remain cautious as 2010 comes to a close.

New estimates show the snowstorm that lashed³ parts of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic last week cost retailers⁴ about a billion dollars in lost sales.

Even so, strong sales before the storm put retailers on track for the best holiday season in two years.

The job market is also showing signs of improvement. And sales of existing homes have now risen four out of the last five months.

Despite the positive momentum⁵, consumer confidence actually dropped in December.

Economist⁶ Peter Cardillo says the big worry is continuing high unemployment.

"I think it's just a psychological factor that is affecting the consumer," said Cardillo. "Will I lose my job? If I do, it's going to be very difficult to get one."

Caution continued on Wall Street Thursday, as investors sold stocks to lock in gains made during the year.

The S&P 500 is up 6.7 percent this month, putting stocks at their highest level since September 2008.

Standard and Poor's analyst⁷ Alec Young is betting that continuing US growth will keep the rally going into the New Year.

"You have a lot of people playing catch up," said Young. "They were under-exposed to the US stock market this year. They were too worried about the economy; a lot of nervous Nellie's there chasing performance. They want to be seen to be a part of this rally by year's end."

Despite concerns about the global impact of China's efforts to cool down its economy, and the ongoing⁸ debt crisis in Europe - analysts⁹ say the world will be looking closely at how the US economy performs in 2011.

That's particularly true for export driven economies.

Shinichi Ichikawa is an equity¹⁰ strategist at Credit Suisse Securities in Japan:

"If we can expect an improvement in the US economy, then we can expect that improvement in the Japanese economy, especially the last part of 2011 and of course 2012, prior to the next presidential election," said Ichikawa.

Investors should get a better indication of how the US economy will do in 2011 when the Labor Department releases its first unemployment report of the new year on January 7.

1 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。

2 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

3 lashed   

adj.具睫毛的v.鞭打( lash的过去式和过去分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥

参考例句：

• The rain lashed at the windows. 雨点猛烈地打在窗户上。
• The cleverly designed speech lashed the audience into a frenzy. 这篇精心设计的演说煽动听众使他们发狂。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 retailers   

零售商，零售店( retailer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• High street retailers reported a marked increase in sales before Christmas. 商业街的零售商报告说圣诞节前销售量显著提高。
• Retailers have a statutory duty to provide goods suitable for their purpose. 零售商有为他们提供符合要求的货品的法定义务。

5 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

6 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。

7 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。

8 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。

9 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。

10 equity   

n.公正，公平，（无固定利息的）股票

参考例句：

• They shared the work of the house with equity.他们公平地分担家务。
• To capture his equity,Murphy must either sell or refinance.要获得资产净值，墨菲必须出售或者重新融资。