VOA常速英语2014--US Unemployment Dips to 6.6 Percent, but Hiring Continues to Slow 美国失业率降至6.6%,但新增就业人口持续偏低

 

US Unemployment Dips to 6.6 Percent, but Hiring Continues to Slow 美国失业率降至6.6%,但新增就业人口持续偏低

WASHINGTON — Unemployment in the U.S. has fallen to a five-year low. The Labor¹ Department says the economy added 113,000 jobs in January - well below expectations of 180,000 - but enough to push the nation’s unemployment rate down to 6.6 percent. Still, there are growing concerns the labor market has cooled - in more ways than one.

华盛顿消息— 美国劳工部表示，美国失业率降至五年来最低。1月份新增就业人口11.3万—远低于预期的18万—但是这足以使美国失业率降到6.6%。

It’s a mixed picture for the U.S. labor market. On the one hand, employers added more jobs than in the previous month. On the other, job creation remained frustratingly² weak, according to Bankrate.com bureau chief Mark Hamrick via Skype.

美国劳工市场非常复杂。Bnkrate.coma³ 当局主席经skype发表消息说，一方面就业人口与前几月相比有所增加，另一方面，就业人口增长相当缓慢。

“Most worrisome thing is that hiring has not been at the robust⁴ level that was seen in previous recoveries,” he said.

他表示，最令人担心的是就业增长并不像之前经济恢复期间那样强健

Job growth in January was well below the average monthly gains for last year, when employers were hiring an average of nearly 200,000 workers each month.

一月份的就业增长远低于去年平均值。去年每月新增就业月20万。

But Hamrick said the demand for workers may have cooled in January for a number of reasons. “We know that severe weather has really been making an impact across much of the United States and so we’ve seen, for example, car sales down. We know that housing activity’s been affected⁵, and surely the consumer has been hibernating⁶ - in many cases because it's miserable⁷ out there,” he said.

但是哈姆里克表示，一月份就业市场冷却有几大原因。“我们知道，极端天气对美国大部分地区都有所影响。比如，因为寒冷天气，消费者不敢出门，使汽车销量下降，房市也被波及。市场疲软很大程度是因为极端天气。”

Despite snowy conditions in many parts of the country, employment grew in the manufacturing and construction sectors⁸. And the labor participation⁹ rate improved slightly as more Americans started looking for work.  

尽管全国多地大降雪，但是制造业和建筑业的就业人口仍有所增加。随着更多的美国人开始寻找工作，劳动参与率也有小幅度提高。

But while the unemployment rate is now the lowest since 2008, some labor experts say more Americans are taking lower-paying jobs, and others are going back to school. Also, some people -- especially those who have been out of work six months or longer - are dropping out of the labor pool altogether, said economist¹⁰ Ken¹¹ Simonson.

经济学家西蒙森表示，尽管失业率降至2008年经济危机以来最低，但一些劳动专家却认为有些人从事的是低薪水的工作，而有一些人重新回到了学校。而且，有些人—尤其是失业时间达到六个月的—并没有在劳动力储备统计之内

“So in three different ways, it may actually drive down the unemployment rate, but not all of those will produce immediate¹² benefits for the economy,” said Simonson.

西蒙森说，以上三种现象都会有助于降低失业率，但并不是这三种现象都能给美国经济带来即期效益。

 

On Wall Street, investors¹³ appear to have shrugged¹⁴ off the weaker-than-expected job numbers -- sending stock prices higher on expectations of more robust growth and warmer weather in the coming months.

在华尔街，投资者对低于预期的新增就业视而不见。基于未来数月经济强进增长及天气回暖的预期，股票价格大幅度上涨。

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 frustratingly   

参考例句：

• Some programs set this limit too close, resulting in frustratingly temperamental scroll behavior. 一些程序将这种限制设置得太窄，导致滚屏的行为变幻无常，令人沮丧。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• But the process is frustratingly slow. 但这过程慢得让人郁闷。 来自互联网

3 coma   

n.昏迷，昏迷状态

参考例句：

• The patient rallied from the coma.病人从昏迷中苏醒过来。
• She went into a coma after swallowing a whole bottle of sleeping pills.她吃了一整瓶安眠药后就昏迷过去了。

4 robust   

adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的

参考例句：

• She is too tall and robust.她个子太高，身体太壮。
• China wants to keep growth robust to reduce poverty and avoid job losses,AP commented.美联社评论道，中国希望保持经济强势增长，以减少贫困和失业状况。

5 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

6 hibernating   

（某些动物）冬眠，蛰伏( hibernate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The hibernating animals reduce movement to far below the ordinary level. 冬眠的动物把活动量大大减少到低于一般的水平。
• People find hibernating animals asleep. 人们发现冬眠动物处于休眠状态。

7 miserable   

adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的

参考例句：

• It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。
• Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。

8 sectors   

n.部门( sector的名词复数 )；领域；防御地区；扇形

参考例句：

• Berlin was divided into four sectors after the war. 战后柏林分成了4 个区。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Industry and agriculture are the two important sectors of the national economy. 工业和农业是国民经济的两个重要部门。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

9 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。

10 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。

11 ken   

n.视野，知识领域

参考例句：

• Such things are beyond my ken.我可不懂这些事。
• Abstract words are beyond the ken of children.抽象的言辞超出小孩所理解的范围.

12 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

13 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

14 shrugged   

vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Sam shrugged and said nothing. 萨姆耸耸肩膀，什么也没说。
• She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. 她耸耸肩，装出一副无所谓的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》