2020年经济学人 一周要闻 美国失业率破二战后纪录 沙特大幅削减石油产量 韩国经济进入战时状态

The world this week

本周国际要闻

Business

经济

Saudi Arabia said it would cut oil production by another 1m barrels a day from next month, furthering its effort to shore up oil prices. Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates swiftly followed with their own reductions. OPEC’s deal with Russia last month, which ended their abrupt¹ price war and made record cuts to output, has done little to increase prices. Brent crude is trading at around $30 a barrel, halfits level in mid-February.

沙特表示，从下个月起，将每日石油产量再削减100万桶，进一步提振油价。科威特和阿拉伯联合酋长国紧随其后，也迅速削减了本国的石油产量。欧佩克上月与俄罗斯达成的协议结束了两国突然爆发的价格战，并创纪录地削减了石油产量，但该协议对油价的上涨作用甚微。布伦特原油目前的价格约为每桶30美元，较2月中旬的水平下降了一半。

Saudi Aramco reported thatits net profit had fallen by 25%, year on year, in the first quarter, to $16.7bn. The state controlled oil company will still pay a shareholder² dividend³, most of which goes to the Saudi government. With oil revenue sinking, the government is looking at other ways to raise money, and has tripled the kingdom’s value-added tax rate to 15%.

沙特国家石油公司沙特阿美(Saudi Aramco)报告称，今年第一季度，该公司净利润同比下降25%，至167亿美元。这家国有石油公司仍将向股东派发股息，其中大部分将归沙特政府所有。随着石油收入下降，政府开始寻找其他筹资途径，并将该国的增值税税率提高了两倍，至15%。

America officially lost 20.5m jobs in April. The number for just one month dwarfs⁴ the 8.6m jobs that were lost over the whole of 2008 and 2009 during the financial crisis. The unemployment rate has soared to 14.7%, the highest since the second world war. Steven Mnuchin, the treasury⁵ secretary, conceded that it could hit 25% in the coming months, a level last seen during the Depression.

4月份，美国官方公布的失业人数为2050万。仅一个月的失业人数就超过了2008年和2009年金融危机期间失去的860万个工作岗位。失业率飙升至14.7%，是二战以来的最高水平。财政部长史蒂芬·姆努钦(Steven Mnuchin)承认，未来几个月失业率可能会达到25%，这是大萧条时期的最高水平。

Stock markets took fright after Jerome Powell, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, warned that more stimulus⁶ from Congress will be required. The Democrats⁷ have proposed an extra $3trn in spending, though their plan is not supported by Republicans.

美联储委员会主席杰罗姆·鲍威尔(Jerome Powell)警告称，国会将出台更多刺激措施，股市因此受到惊吓。民主党已经提议增加3万亿美元的支出，尽管他们的计划并未得到共和党的支持。

Despite avoiding a prolonged lockdown, the South Korean economy shed almost half a million jobs in April, the most since 1999 at the tail end of the Asian financial crisis. The pandemic has created a “wartime situation” in the economy, said the country’s president, Moon Jae-in.

尽管没有实施长时间的封锁措施，4月份的韩国经济还是减少了近50万个工作岗位，这是自1999年亚洲金融危机结束以来最多的一次。韩国总统文在寅表示，大流行导致韩国经济出现了“战时局面”。

Britain’s economy was 2% smaller in the first quarter than in the previous three months, the fastest rate of contraction⁸ since the global financial crisis of 2007-09. However, the figure only captured a glimpse of the chaos⁹ caused by COVID-19.

英国经济第一季度比前三个月萎缩了2%，这是自2007-09年全球金融危机以来萎缩速度最快的一次。然而，这些数据仅仅是初步反映了疫情带来的影响。

Britain’s lockdown began in late March; the economy was 5.8% smaller in that month than it was in February. Forecasters think the economy could shrink by 20-30% in the second quarter. A study by academics at the London Business School found that household spending has plunged¹⁰ by 40-50% during the crisis.

英国的封锁始于三月下旬;当月的经济规模比2月份萎缩了5.8%。预测者认为，第二季度的经济可能会萎缩20-30%。伦敦商学院(London Business School)学者的一项研究发现，危机期间的家庭支出下降了40-50%。

1 abrupt   

adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的

参考例句：

• The river takes an abrupt bend to the west.这河突然向西转弯。
• His abrupt reply hurt our feelings.他粗鲁的回答伤了我们的感情。

2 shareholder   

n.股东，股票持有人

参考例句：

• The account department have prepare a financial statement for the shareholder.财务部为股东准备了一份财务报表。
• A shareholder may transfer his shares in accordance with the law.股东持有的股份可以依法转让。

3 dividend   

n.红利，股息；回报，效益

参考例句：

• The company was forced to pass its dividend.该公司被迫到期不分红。
• The first quarter dividend has been increased by nearly 4 per cent.第一季度的股息增长了近 4%。

4 dwarfs   

n.侏儒，矮子（dwarf的复数形式）vt.（使）显得矮小（dwarf的第三人称单数形式）

参考例句：

• Shakespeare dwarfs other dramatists. 莎士比亚使其他剧作家相形见绌。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The new building dwarfs all the other buildings in the town. 新大楼使城里所有其他建筑物都显得矮小了。 来自辞典例句

5 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

6 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。

7 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》

8 contraction   

n.缩略词，缩写式，害病

参考例句：

• The contraction of this muscle raises the lower arm.肌肉的收缩使前臂抬起。
• The forces of expansion are balanced by forces of contraction.扩张力和收缩力相互平衡。

9 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

10 plunged   

v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
• She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳，从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。