VOA常速英语2014--美国7月增加20.9万工作机会 但失业率回弹到6.2%

US Adds 209K Jobs in July, Unemployment Rises to 6.2% 美国7月增加20.9万工作机会 但失业率回弹到6.2%

WASHINGTON —

The latest employment report www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm shows the U.S. economy growing at a steady pace, adding 209,000 jobs in July. While the gains were not as strong as the previous three months, the July jobs report marks the sixth straight month of job growth above 200,000.

美国最新的就业数字显示，经济增长稳健，在7月增加了20.9万个工作机会。尽管7月份的增长势头没有前三个月强劲，但是连续六个月就业人数增长超过20万。经济学者认为，要想使失业率下降，美国雇主必须每个月创造20 万个工作机会。

That’s the number of jobs economists 2 believe U.S. employers need to create each month to reduce the unemployment rate. And yet, despite another solid month of hiring, the unemployment rate rose slightly.

然而，尽管就业人数继续增长，失业率却开始回弹。

The U.S. economy extended its winning streak 3, bouncing back with another solid month of job gains after a weak start this year. The Obama administration says that's no surprise. Speaking at the White House on Friday, President Barack Obama said tough decisions he made early on are paying off.

美国经济在今年初的低落期之后恢复活力，度过了又一个稳步增长的月份。奥巴马政府称这并不意外。奥巴马总统周五在白宫发表讲话说，他早些时候作出的艰难抉择开始产生效果。

“Over the past year, we've added more jobs than any year since 2006. And all told our businesses have created 9.9 million new jobs over the past 53 months. That's the longest streak of private sector 4 job creation in our history," he said.

“去年，我们增加的就业机会比2006年以来的任何一年都要多。我们的企业界在过去的53个月创造了9百90万个工作机会。这是我们历史上最长时间的一次私营部门就业增长。”

But it wasn't enough to lower the unemployment rate, which rose one tenth of a percent in July to 6.2 percent. Economist 1 Sean Snaith at the Institute for Economic Competitiveness said that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

但这并不足以降低失业率。失业率在7月份回升了0.1个百分点，达到6.2%。经济竞争力研究所的经济学家肖恩?斯内斯说，这并不一定是坏事。

"People see businesses are hiring at a faster pace, they feel more confident they’re going to be able to find a job so they get back into the job search, which boosts up the labor 5 force and push up those unemployment numbers,” said Snaith.

“人们看到企业界的雇佣步伐加快。他们自信有能力找到工作，所以他们又开始找工作。这就增加了劳动力数量和失业人数。”

Americans who are not actively 6 seeking work are not counted as unemployed 7.

美国人当中不积极找工作的人不被算作失业人群。

That’s driven the so-called job participation 8 rate to a 35-year low. That means millions of unemployed Americans who have stopped looking for work remain hidden in the shadows. That’s especially true for 3.2 million Americans who have been unemployed 27 months or longer, according to Cornell University Professor Sharon Poczter.

这就使得所谓的参加工作率下降到35年来的最低水平，也意味着数百万失业并停止找工作的美国人不在统计之列。康奈尔大学教授沙伦?博克斯特说，有3百20万连续至少27个月失业的美国人就属于这种情况。

“And the percentage of unemployed that is long-term unemployed is the largest that it’s been since the Great Depression,” she said.

“这个长期失业的失业率是自大萧条以来最高的。”

While the job participation rate has risen slightly, the job gains have yet to translate into bigger paychecks for most Americans. Still, key indicators 9 suggest the U.S. recovery is finally gaining momentum 10 five years after the financial crisis.

虽然参加工作率略有上升，但是对大多数美国人而言，就业增加并没有转化为更高的薪水。