VOA标准英语2010年-US Jobless Rate Steady; Obama Sees Pro

President Barack Obama talks with Gelberg Signs employee Elaine Hart during his tour of the facility, Friday, Aug. 6, 2010, in Washington.
President Barack Obama says the U.S. unemployment report for July shows some encouraging signs, even though the jobless rate remained at 9.5 percent.  But the president admits more improvement is needed.

The Labor¹ Department says the U.S. economy made progress in some areas last month, but not in others.

The nation lost jobs overall, mainly due to the expected cuts of 144,000 jobs at the government's Census² Bureau.  But private employers added 71,000 jobs in July.

President Obama spoke³ Friday to workers at a sign company in Washington which recently expanded its workforce⁴.  He said he is encouraged that July was the seventh consecutive⁵ month that America's private employers added jobs. "We have now added private sector⁶ jobs every month this year, instead of losing them, as we did for the first seven months of last year.  And that is a good sign," he said.

The president also mentioned another report which said the trend of U.S. manufacturing jobs being shipped overseas was beginning to slow. "Just this morning, there was a report about the growing trend of manufacturing plants returning to the United States from overseas, instead of the other way around," he said.

Despite his upbeat assessment⁷, Mr. Obama conceded that a 9.5 percent unemployment rate is unacceptable, and said he will do what he can to reduce that rate. "For America's workers, families and small businesses, progress needs to come faster.  Our job is to make sure that happens," he said.

Opposition⁸ Republicans in Congress, including Representative Kevin Brady of Texas, say the stagnant⁹ jobless rate is an indictment¹⁰ of the Obama administration's economic policies. "At this slow pace, it will take much of the decade to return to normal employment levels.  Despite the promises, the economic plan of President Obama and congressional Democrats¹¹ has failed to restore consumer confidence, a key element to economic recovery," he said.

The top Republican in the House of Representatives, Minority Leader John Boehner, issued a statement referring to persistent¹² high unemployment as "the reality of President Obama's broken promises, out-of-control spending sprees, and failing 'stimulus¹³' policies."

The president's top economic adviser¹⁴, Christina Romer, said there will likely be more bumps in the road, or challenges, as the economy recovers.

Romer announced Thursday she will step down as head of the president's Council of Economic Advisers¹⁵ and return to the University of California at Berkeley to teach economics.

Mr. Obama's budget director, Peter Orszag, recently resigned as well.
 

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 census   

n.(官方的)人口调查，人口普查

参考例句：

• A census of population is taken every ten years.人口普查每10年进行一次。
• The census is taken one time every four years in our country.我国每四年一次人口普查。

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。

5 consecutive   

adj.连续的，联贯的，始终一贯的

参考例句：

• It has rained for four consecutive days.已连续下了四天雨。
• The policy of our Party is consecutive.我党的政策始终如一。

6 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。

7 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

8 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。

9 stagnant   

adj.不流动的，停滞的，不景气的

参考例句：

• Due to low investment,industrial output has remained stagnant.由于投资少，工业生产一直停滞不前。
• Their national economy is stagnant.他们的国家经济停滞不前。

10 indictment   

n.起诉；诉状

参考例句：

• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。
• They issued an indictment against them.他们起诉了他们。

11 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 persistent   

adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的

参考例句：

• Albert had a persistent headache that lasted for three days.艾伯特连续头痛了三天。
• She felt embarrassed by his persistent attentions.他不时地向她大献殷勤，使她很难为情。

13 stimulus   

n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物

参考例句：

• Regard each failure as a stimulus to further efforts.把每次失利看成对进一步努力的激励。
• Light is a stimulus to growth in plants.光是促进植物生长的一个因素。

14 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

15 advisers   

顾问，劝告者( adviser的名词复数 )； （指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• a member of the President's favoured circle of advisers 总统宠爱的顾问班子中的一员
• She withdrew to confer with her advisers before announcing a decision. 她先去请教顾问然后再宣布决定。