-
1
奥巴马
:
失业率有可
能继续上升
President Obama says
he expects the nation's jobless rate, which is the
highest it has been in 26
years, to get
still worse before it gets better.
奥巴马总统说，
他预计，
美国的失业率在好转
之前会继续恶化。
目前的失业率是美国二十六
年里最高的。
expectation
is
that
we
will
probably
continue
to
see
unemployment
tick
up
for
several
months,
奥巴马说：
“
我的预期是，
在今后的几个月里，
我们可能会继续看到失业率上升。
”
Unemployment is 9.5 percent in the
United States, and Mr. Obama says hiring is
usually one of
the last areas of a
struggling economy to bounce back.
美国目前的失业率是
9.5%
，奥巴马说，在
衰退中苦苦挣扎的经济，招聘通常是最后恢复的
领域之一。
after that. That has been
the historic norm,
奥巴马说：
“
即使人们看到经济开始复苏，也就是经济进入正增长期，招聘的复苏仍
然要滞
后一段时间。从历史上看，这属于常态。
”
The
president
spoke
in
the
Oval
Office,
after
meeting
with
Dutch
Prime
Minister
Jan
Peter
Balkenende.
奥巴马总统是在会晤荷兰首相扬
?<
/p>
彼得
?
巴尔克嫩德
(Jan Peter Balkenende)
之后，
在白
宫椭圆形
办公室说这番话的。
More
than
2
million
jobs
have
been
lost
since
Congress
passed
Mr.
Obama's
$$787
billion
economic recovery
act in February.
美国国会今年二月通过
了奥巴马提出的
7870
亿美元经济复苏法案，从那时到现在，
美国又
损失了
200
多万个工作职位。
Still, the president says
there are reasons for optimism. Among them are
signs of stabilization in
the U.S.
financial markets.
尽管如此，
奥巴马总统认为，我们仍然有理由乐观。这些理由包括，
美国金融市场
表现出稳
定迹象。
that might have worried just
a couple of months ago about closing doors, they
are now able to get
a little more
financing,
奥巴马说：
“
这意味着公司可以借钱，银行重新开始贷款。两三个月前还担心要倒闭的小企
业，
他们现在得以借到稍微多一点的资金。
也就是
说，
这些小企业解雇员工的可能性减少了。
”
< br>
Other glimmers of economic hope
appeared Tuesday. The Commerce Department says
retail sales
rose 0.6 percent in June,
about twice what economists had expected. The
increase appeared to be
driven by a 1.8
percent spike in wholesale prices, largely due to
higher energy prices.
最新的经济
数据也显示美国经济出现了更多的希望的曙光。
商务部说，
六月
份美国零售额增
长
0.6%
，几乎是经
济学家预期增长率的两倍。零售额增长看来受到批发价格上升
1.8%
< br>的驱
动，而批发价格上升主要因为能源价格上涨。
Still,
Mr.
Obama
is
focused
on
creating
jobs,
a
central
message
on
his
Tuesday
visit
to
the
economically-devastated state of
Michigan.
尽管如此，
奥
巴马总统仍然强调要创造就业，
这是他当天视察经济遭受重创的密西根州时所
表达的中心意思。
The
president
is
promoting
his
initiative
to
reform
and
strengthen
community
colleges,
which
offer
training
in
various
trades
and
professions.
The
goal
is
to
help
an
additional
5
million
Americans earn
degrees and certificates in the next decade,
better qualifying them for the jobs of
the 21st century.
奥巴马总统正在宣传他的改革和加强社区学院的主张。
社区学院提供各种职业培训。
改革和
加强社区学院可以帮助更多的美国人更好地适应
21
世纪的工作。如果奥巴马总统的计划得
以落
实，那么在今后十年拿到学位和证书的美国人将增加五百万。
just not going to be
spending as much as they were, and that had been
driving a lot of economic
growth over
the last several months,
奥巴马
总统说：
“
我们必须找到新的经济增长模式，尤其在消费者不能
像以前那样花钱的时
候更要这样做。过去几个月来，消费者支出一直是经济增长的主要动
力。
”
Unemployment
in Michigan is the highest of any of the 50 states
- 14.1 percent-largely because of
job
losses in the U.S. auto industry, which is based
in Michigan. However, Mr. Obama says he
sees promising signs there, too.
在美国五十个州，密西根州的失业率最高，达
14.1%
，主要因为在密西根州的美国汽车业丧
失了
很多工作。不过，奥巴马总统说，他看到那里也有一些希望的迹象。
are
pleased
to
see
that
GM
and
Chrysler
have
gotten
out
of
bankruptcy.
They
have
an
opportunity to compete
internationally,
took with respect to GM
and Chrysler, the situation in Michigan, I think
it is fair to say, would be
far
worse.
奥巴马总统说：
“
我们高兴地看到，通用和克莱斯勒汽车公司走出破产保护。它们因此有机
会参与国际竞争。假如我们没有针对通用和克莱斯勒采取措施，我认为，
公正地说，
密西根
州的情况可能会更糟糕。
”
Meanwhile, Steve Rattner, whom Mr.
Obama appointed in February to oversee the
bailouts of GM
and
Chrysler,
announced
Monday
he
is
stepping
down.
He
will
be
replaced
by
Ron
Bloom,
a
former union official.
另一方面，奥巴马今年二月任命监督通用和克莱斯勒救助计划实施的史蒂夫
?
拉特纳宣布辞
职。接替他的是罗恩
?
布鲁姆。他曾经是工会官员。
Bounce
back:
to
feel
better
quickly
after
being
ill,
or
to
become
successful again after failing or
having been defeated
恢复
(
健康或信心等
),
重整旗鼓
lag:
走的慢
;
落后
;
延迟
Some of the runners in the race
began to lag.
参加比赛的运动员中有一些开始落后了。
The children were tired and
lagged behind their parents.
Glimmer:
少许
She showed no glimmer of interest in
them.
她对他们没流露出丝毫兴趣。
Spike:a sudden large increase in the
number or rate of something
突然
上涨