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VOA标准英语2012--US Economy Grew at Slower Pace in Second Quarter

时间：2012-09-29 07:07:15

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US Economy Grew at Slower Pace in Second Quarter

U.S. domestic output weakened in the second quarter, growing at the slowest pace in 9 months. The slowdown is blamed partly on unusually warm weather - a prolonged drought that decimated farm inventories1 and sent corn and soybean prices to new highs.

But things are not as bad as they seem. Consumer spending outpaced growth in the second quarter - April through June.

And despite high unemployment, economist2 Max Wolff at Greencrest Capital said companies are laying off fewer workers.

"The job situation here is lousy but it's not terrible. So it's not worsening. We are seeing 100,000 - 150,000 new jobs a month. We do need 120,000 each month to keep pace with population growth," said Wolff.

The housing market also has seen steady improvement. Even after a slight dip in August, home sales are up from last year - and prices are rising. 

As for investments, Yahoo finance editor Aaron Task said the U.S. remains3 an attractive bet.

"In a global economy, global investors4 have to put their money somewhere. And they look at the United States as a safer place to put it than Europe, certainly than China, than a lot of the other emerging markets."

Others warn, however, against over confidence.

Uri Dadush heads the Global Economics program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

"Going forward, there are really three big things to worry about. One, the European situation continues to be very fragile in my view,” he said. “The second is the fiscal5 cliff - the famous fiscal cliff coming at the end of this year, and the third is the slowdown in emerging markets."

Dadush said uncertainty6 over the debt crisis in Europe and a political stalemate in the U.S. over tax cuts and spending - known as the fiscal cliff - have the potential to plunge7 the global economy into another recession.

Many will be looking for more clues on U.S. economic health when a key government report on the job market comes out on October 5. 


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1 inventories 9d8e9044cc215163080743136fcb7fd5     
n.总结( inventory的名词复数 )；细账；存货清单（或财产目录）的编制
参考例句：
  • In other cases, such as inventories, inputs and outputs are both continuous. 在另一些情况下，比如存货，其投入和产出都是持续不断的。
  • The store must clear its winter inventories by April 1st. 该店必须在4月1日前售清冬季存货。
2 economist AuhzVs     
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。
3 remains 1kMzTy     
n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹
参考例句：
  • He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
  • The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。
4 investors dffc64354445b947454450e472276b99     
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
5 fiscal agbzf     
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 uncertainty NlFwK     
n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物
参考例句：
  • Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
  • After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。
7 plunge 228zO     
v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲
参考例句：
  • Test pool's water temperature before you plunge in.在你跳入之前你应该测试水温。
  • That would plunge them in the broil of the two countries.那将会使他们陷入这两国的争斗之中。

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