VOA标准英语2012--Poor US Job Numbers Play Key Factor in Presidential Race
时间：2019-01-13 作者：英语课 分类：VOA标准英语2012年(九月)
Poor US Job Numbers Play Key Factor in Presidential Race
The August job numbers mark the 30th month of private-sector job growth, though just barely. Experts say the economy needs to add at least 100,000 new jobs each month just to keep up with population growth.
Economist 1 Marcus Schomer at Pinebridge Investments called the latest jobs report underwhelming.
"The non-farm payroll 2 number 96,000, that was quite disappointing. I was looking for a much stronger increase. In fact, my forecast was 175,000," said Schomer.
So what happened? Schomer believes the job numbers reflect growing uncertainty 3 over the country's economic direction.
"It is the uncertainty over taxes, the uncertainty over spending, the uncertainty over politics, the uncertainty over Congress and I think that's exactly what's holding back business activity, business sentiment and at the end of the day, it's holding back hiring," said Schomer.
With less than nine weeks to go before Americans head to the polls, the sluggish 4 job market could hurt President Barack Obama's re-election chances.
Michael K. Farr is head of an investment firm in Washington and has written several books on surviving the economic downturn. He said the latest job numbers could be problematic for the president.
"It's crucial politically, it's less crucial economically. I think, you can look back and there have been no presidents re-elected when unemployment's north of [above] 8% [since World War II], so for President Obama, this is a very tricky 5 detail," said Farr.
External factors also could play an outsized role in whether companies hire workers. Farr said a downturn in Europe - the United States' largest trading partner - may hurt the president.
"Europe is a huge threat right now. The euro and the survival of the euro in what are insolvent 6, sovereign economies. It's hard to call Europe a surprise, but it could be the October problem," said Farr.
The unemployment rate has remained above 8 percent since February 2009, a fact Republican presidential candidate Mitt 7 Romney argues is reason for Americans to choose a new leader.
But in accepting his nomination 8 for a second term, Obama asked for more time. And on Friday, he reminded Americans that his policies have added 4.6 million private-sector jobs - following the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.
- 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。
- His yearly payroll is $1.2 million.他的年薪是120万美元。
- I can't wait to get my payroll check.我真等不及拿到我的工资单了。
- 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。
- 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。
- I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
- He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。
- They lost orders and were insolvent within weeks.他们失去了订货，几周后就无法偿还债务。
- The bank was declared insolvent.银行被宣布破产。
- 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。
- John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
- Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。