VOA常速英语2014--尽管失业率下降美国就业仍不景气

 

Americans Still Struggling Despite Falling Unemployment 尽管失业率下降美国就业仍不景气

WHITE HOUSE— 

The U.S. unemployment rate fell to 5.9 percent last month -- the lowest since the 2008 recession. The White House is touting¹ this figure along with 55 consecutive² months of job creation in the private sector³. Despite the job gains, though, recent polls find that confidence in the economy is actually dropping among Americans.

Located in one of the wealthiest counties in the United States, the Manna Center in Maryland is a lifeline for the working poor -- providing boxes of food so families do not have to choose between paying an electricity bill and buying groceries.

位于最富裕国家美国马里兰州的Manna中心是穷忙族的生命线，这里给他们提供成箱的食物，这样这些家庭就不必在付电费和购买杂货之间进行选择。

Development Director Mark Foraker said that unlike the country’s falling unemployment rate, the number of needy⁴ households in Montgomery County actually has gone up since the 2008 recession.

发展总监马克·弗拉克说与该国下降的失业率不同，自2008年衰退以来蒙哥马利郡缺吃少穿的家庭数量增加了。

“In the fiscal⁵ year 2008, we were serving an average of 2,070 families a month. Currently our numbers that we are serving are 3,760 families each month.”

“在2008财年，我们平均每月给2070户人家提供食物，目前我们每月给3760家提供食物。”

The numbers are a stark⁶ contrast to the economic progress cited by President Barack Obama, who noted⁷ in an October 2 speech at Northwestern University that 10 million new private sector jobs have been created in the last four and a half years.

这一数字与巴拉克·奥巴马总统提到的经济发展形成鲜明对比，奥巴马10月2日在西北大学的讲话中称过去四、五年间美国创造了1000万个企业新岗位。

“All told, the United States has put more people back to work than Europe, Japan, and every other advanced economy combined. I want you to think about that. We have put more people back to work, here in America, than Europe, Japan, and every other advanced economy combined,” said Obama.

“总的来说，与欧洲、日本和所有其他发达经济体的总和相比，美国让更多人回到工作岗位上。我想让你们想这点，我们美国让更多人回到工作岗位上，这个数字比欧洲、日本和所有其他发达经济的总和还要多。”

But in that same speech, Obama acknowledged that despite the increasing number of Americans returning to the workforce⁸, it will take much longer to reverse what he calls a profound erosion of middle-class jobs and incomes.

在就在同一天的讲话中，奥巴马承认尽管美国有更多人回到就业岗位，仍需要更多时间来扭转所谓的中产阶级就业和收入损失。

George Washington University Economics Professor Tara Sinclair said the U.S. labor⁹ market and economy still look starkly¹⁰ different than before the recession.

乔治华盛顿大学经济学家Tara Sinclair说，美国劳动力市场和经济仍与衰退前有着明显的不同。

“Wages aren’t rising very quickly, and there are a whole lot of people who have stepped out of the labor force completely. So if you look at the employment to population ratio, we are still way below where we were before the recession or for many years before that. We look like the 1970’s.”

“工作并没有涨的很快，还有很多人退出就业市场。所以如果你看下就业与人口比例，你会发现这一比例仍低于衰退前水平，或很多年之前的情况，目前的情况像20世纪70年代。”

And with more people settling for low-paying jobs even as costs increase, officials here at the Manna Center don’t anticipate the need going down anytime soon.

目前有更多人只能做着低收入的工作，尽管成本上升，Manna中心官方仍预料对食物援助的需求不会很快降低。

1 touting   

v.兜售( tout的现在分词 )；招揽；侦查；探听赛马情报

参考例句：

• He's been touting his novel around publishers for years. 他几年来一直到处找出版商兜售自己的小说。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Technology industry leaders are touting cars as a hot area for growth. 科技产业领袖吹捧为增长热点地区的汽车。 来自互联网

2 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。

3 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。

4 needy   

adj.贫穷的，贫困的，生活艰苦的

参考例句：

• Although he was poor,he was quite generous to his needy friends.他虽穷，但对贫苦的朋友很慷慨。
• They awarded scholarships to needy students.他们给贫苦学生颁发奖学金。

5 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

6 stark   

adj.荒凉的；严酷的；完全的；adv.完全地

参考例句：

• The young man is faced with a stark choice.这位年轻人面临严峻的抉择。
• He gave a stark denial to the rumor.他对谣言加以完全的否认。

7 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

8 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。

9 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。

10 starkly   

adj. 变硬了的,完全的 adv. 完全,实在,简直

参考例句：

• The city of Befast remains starkly divided between Catholics and Protestants. 贝尔法斯特市完全被处在天主教徒和新教徒的纷争之中。
• The black rocks stood out starkly against the sky. 那些黑色的岩石在天空衬托下十分显眼。