VOA标准英语2011--Unemployment Rises in Spain

Unemployment Rises in Spain

八月份西班牙失业率上升

Spain's Labor 1 Ministry 2 says the number of people filing claims for unemployment benefits rose in August, bringing the total to 4.13 million. European governments, like many around the world, are struggling to bolster 3 economic growth while containing major public deficits 5.

The number claiming unemployment benefits in Spain went up by more than 50,000 last month.

上月，西班牙申领失业救济的人数增加了50,000多人。

Spain's Labor Ministry says the hike is typical of the month of August but, nonetheless, discouraging.

西班牙劳工部表示，八月份的上涨是比较典型的，但是却令人气馁。

"Spain has the largest unemployment rate in the euro area and one of the largest unemployment rates in the world," noted 6 Javier Diaz-Gimenez, professor of economics at the IESE Business School in Madrid. "In fact, our employment rate currently is about twice the euro area average and about three times the unemployment rate in Germany."

“在整个欧元区乃至全世界，西班牙的失业率都是最高的。”马德里IESE商学院经济学教授Javier Diaz-Gimenez表示。“实际上，我们目前的失业率是欧元区平均水平的两倍，是德国失业率的三倍。”

Spain's unemployment rate is more than 20 percent. For those under the age of 25, it is more than 45 percent.

西班牙的失业率超过20%。25岁以下人群的失业率超过45%。

But economic growth does not appear to be on the horizon. Spain, like a number of European nations, is struggling with a major public deficit 4.

但是经济增长似乎又遥不可及。西班牙像其他几个欧洲国家一样面临重大的财政赤字。

Greece, Portugal and Ireland have already had to borrow money from their euro neighbors in order to avoid defaulting on their debts. It has not yet come to that in Spain, and its lawmakers want to keep it that way.

希腊，葡萄牙和爱尔兰为了避免债务违约已经向欧元区邻国借款。西班牙目前还没到这种程度，其立法者也尽量避免这种情况的发生。

On Friday, the lower house of parliament approved an amendment 7 to the constitution that will force the government to keep its deficit low in the future. The legislation is now set to go to parliament's upper house. The controversial move is aimed at calming investor 8 fears over Spain's public finances.

周五，议会下院通过了宪法修正案，强迫政府未来保持较低的赤字。该立法即将被送往议会上院。该有争议的举动是为了平息投资者对西班牙公共财政的担忧。

Diaz-Gimenez says controlling sovereign debt means hikes in taxes and cuts in public spending, policies that do little to stimulate 9 economic growth.

Diaz-Gimenez表示，控制主权债务意味着增加税收，削减公共支出，这些政策对刺激经济增长的效果不大。

"Policymakers in Spain face this hard choice between growth and budget stability, and they are choosing budget stability because it is the lesser 10 of the two evils," added Diaz-Gimenez.

“西班牙政策制定者面临经济增长和预算平衡的两难选择。他们选择了预算平衡，因为两者相比这个次要一些。”

Governments across Europe and beyond are facing a similar conundrum 11.

欧洲以及欧洲以外的政府都面临类似的难题。

In Italy, economic experts from around the world gathered for the annual Ambrosetti Economy Forum 12 on Friday. Worries about recession and slow growth opened the talks, with New York University economist 13 Nouriel Roubini warning of a "significant probability" of a double-dip recession.

周五，来自世界各地的经济学专家在意大利聚集，参加一年一度的安博思经济论坛。会议一开始便探讨了对经济衰退和经济增长缓慢的担忧。纽约大学经济学家Nouriel Roubini警告称出现双谷衰退的可能性非常大。

Speaking from the conference, Harvard University Economics Professor Martin Feldstein says the outlook in the United States and across much of Europe is grim, not to mention Spain.

哈佛大学经济学教授Martin Feldstein在会议上发表讲话称，美国和欧洲大部分国家的前景都非常惨淡，更不要说西班牙。

"The numbers that we've seen recently for the U.S. on manufacturing, on construction, on consumers' sentiment tell me that the odds 14 have gotten much greater, that the U.S. is going to continue to decline, and that we are going to be in a formal recession before the end of the year," Feldstein noted. "In Europe, again I don't think you can talk about a single outlook for Europe. Germany is strong, Greece is in terrible shape, Spain has 20-plus percent unemployment. So some of the countries are already in economic downturn here in Europe."

“我们最近看到的美国制造业，建筑业，消费者信心方面的数据告诉我，美国经济继续衰退的可能性进一步增加，我们在今年年底之前将正式进入经济衰退。在欧洲，我认为你不可能只讨论欧洲的单一前景。德国非常强大，希腊非常糟糕，西班牙的失业率高达20%。所以，欧洲的一些国家已经进入经济低迷。”

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said Friday that nonfarm payroll 15 employment was unchanged in August, keeping the unemployment rate at 9.1 percent. 14 million Americans are out of work.

美国劳动统计局周五表示，八月份的非农业就业率没有变化，失业率仍然高达9.1%。1400万美国人失业。