VOA标准英语2015--US Hiring Rebounds in April; Unemployment Dips to 5.4%

US Hiring Rebounds¹ in April; Unemployment Dips to 5.4%

The U.S. job market rebounded² in April, with strong growth in business services, health care and construction, Friday's report from the Labor³ Department said. The unemployment rate dipped to 5.4 percent, the lowest level in nearly seven years, as 223,000 jobs were added.

After the weak job gains in March, when fewer than 100,000 people were hired, the second quarter is off to a good start, Bankrate.com's chief financial analyst⁴ Greg McBride told VOA.

"The April jobs report shows we are back on track," he said. "It really reveals that March was the aberration⁵ — that was the month where the results were very poor, and they were revised lower with [Friday's] release.  But, you know, April really kind of gets us back in the game."

April's job numbers were an encouraging sign for investors⁶, who helped boost stock prices on Wall Street by more than 1 percent. Adding to the optimism was the fact that  average hourly earnings⁷ increased, but just barely.  At just 3 cents more per hour, McBride said, it's a step in the right direction, but not enough to significantly boost growth.

"People don't have enough spending power," he said. "They don't have enough breathing room in the household budget, and that's why we've had this perpetually slow-growth economy — because consumers are not in a position where they can ramp⁸ up spending on a consistent basis."

Until employers start ramping⁹ up wages, McBride said, the housing market is likely to remain sluggish¹⁰. Part of the problem, according to the National Association of Business Economics' Ken¹¹ Simonson, is inertia¹².

"Employers have been very cautious about hiring people, raising wages, and workers are also nervous that a job won't last," he said, "so it's made them less aggressive about pushing for wage increases in their current job or changing jobs."

That could change as competition for skilled workers heats up.

The new jobs data show about 8.5 million Americans are still out of work,  but that's down more than 1 million from a year ago.

1 rebounds   

反弹球( rebound的名词复数 )； 回弹球； 抢断篮板球； 复兴

参考例句：

• V is the velocity after the gas particle rebounds from the wall. V是粒子从壁上弹开后的速度。
• In the former case, the first body rebounds with practically its original velocity. 在前一种情况下，第一个物体实际上以原来的速度弹回。

2 rebounded   

弹回( rebound的过去式和过去分词 )； 反弹； 产生反作用； 未能奏效

参考例句：

• The ball rebounded from the goalpost and Owen headed it in. 球从门柱弹回，欧文头球将球攻进。
• The ball rebounded from his racket into the net. 球从他的球拍上弹回网中。

3 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。

4 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。

5 aberration   

n.离开正路，脱离常规，色差

参考例句：

• The removal of the chromatic aberration is then of primary importance.这时消除色差具有头等重要性。
• Owing to a strange mental aberration he forgot his own name.由于一种莫名的精神错乱，他把自己的名字忘了。

6 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

7 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

8 ramp   

n.暴怒，斜坡，坡道；vi.作恐吓姿势，暴怒，加速；vt.加速

参考例句：

• That driver drove the car up the ramp.那司机将车开上了斜坡。
• The factory don't have that capacity to ramp up.这家工厂没有能力加速生产。

9 ramping   

土堤斜坡( ramp的现在分词 )； 斜道； 斜路； （装车或上下飞机的）活动梯

参考例句：

• The children love ramping about in the garden. 孩子们喜欢在花园里追逐嬉戏，闹着玩。
• Have you ever seen a lion ramping around? 你看到过狮子暴跳吗？

10 sluggish   

adj.懒惰的，迟钝的，无精打采的

参考例句：

• This humid heat makes you feel rather sluggish.这种湿热的天气使人感到懒洋洋的。
• Circulation is much more sluggish in the feet than in the hands.脚部的循环比手部的循环缓慢得多。

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 inertia   

adj.惰性，惯性，懒惰，迟钝

参考例句：

• We had a feeling of inertia in the afternoon.下午我们感觉很懒。
• Inertia carried the plane onto the ground.飞机靠惯性着陆。