VOA标准英语2012--US Hiring Disappoints, but Jobless Rate Ticks Lower

 US Hiring Disappoints, but Jobless Rate Ticks Lower

American employers eased up on hiring in April. But upward revisions to the job numbers in the previous two months, along with a decline in the number of people looking for work, brought the nation's unemployment rate to a three-year low of 8.1 percent. White House economic adviser¹ Alan Krueger said the evidence suggests the economy continues to heal from the worst downturn since the Great Depression.

"The numbers as you know are very volatile². We're going to have ups and downs. That's the nature of the economic recoveries, but I think we are on a stronger path," said Krueger.

'The Street' is not impressed

Wall Street was not so forgiving. Stock futures³ fell sharply after the opening bell and oil prices dipped below $100 a barrel on fears the U.S. recovery may be losing momentum⁴. At the current pace of hiring, economists⁶ say it could take years to bring unemployment numbers to near-normal levels of around 5 to 6 percent.

But Nobel prize-winning economist⁵ Edmund Phelps said it may be time to consider a new normal.

"We're not looking at an economy nearly as healthy as it was in the middle of the 90's. My seat-of-the-pants [intuitive] feeling is that the new normal is in the neighborhood of 7 percent," he said.

White House defends progress

President Barack Obama acknowledged that more needs to be done to put Americans back to work. But Friday on Fox News, Republican presidential challenger Mitt⁷ Romney took the job numbers as an opportunity to attack the president's economic policies.

"We seem to be slowing down not speeding up. This is not progress; this is very disappointing," said Romney.

There are some bright spots. The construction trade says employment is up in nearly half of the country's major metropolitan⁸ areas.

"For the first time in five years it looks as if construction overall will be higher than it was in the previous year, but not every region of the country, not every segment of the industry is benefiting. It's a very spotty improvement," said Ken⁹ Simonson, chief economist at the Associated General Contractors¹⁰ of America.

Despite increased hiring in retail¹¹ and professional services, the number of unemployed¹² Americans remained virtually unchanged. About 12.5 million Americans are still looking for work - more than 5 million have been unemployed for six months or longer. 

1 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

2 volatile   

adj.反复无常的，挥发性的，稍纵即逝的，脾气火爆的；n.挥发性物质

参考例句：

• With the markets being so volatile,investments are at great risk.由于市场那么变化不定，投资冒着很大的风险。
• His character was weak and volatile.他这个人意志薄弱，喜怒无常。

3 futures   

n.期货，期货交易

参考例句：

• He continued his operations in cotton futures.他继续进行棉花期货交易。
• Cotton futures are selling at high prices.棉花期货交易的卖价是很高的。

4 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

5 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。

6 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 mitt   

n.棒球手套，拳击手套，无指手套；vt.铐住，握手

参考例句：

• I gave him a baseball mitt for his birthday.为祝贺他的生日，我送给他一只棒球手套。
• Tom squeezed a mitt and a glove into the bag.汤姆把棒球手套和手套都塞进袋子里。

8 metropolitan   

adj.大城市的，大都会的

参考例句：

• Metropolitan buildings become taller than ever.大城市的建筑变得比以前更高。
• Metropolitan residents are used to fast rhythm.大都市的居民习惯于快节奏。

9 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.

10 contractors   

n.（建筑、监造中的）承包人( contractor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We got estimates from three different contractors before accepting the lowest. 我们得到3个承包商的报价后，接受了最低的报价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Contractors winning construction jobs had to kick back 2 per cent of the contract price to the mafia. 赢得建筑工作的承包商得抽出合同价格的百分之二的回扣给黑手党。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

12 unemployed   

adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的

参考例句：

• There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
• The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。