VOA双语新闻 - 白宫：美国经济处于困难时期

　　The White House says the U.S. economy is struggling to grow and generate jobs, despite aggressive steps taken by the federal government to prop 1 up financial institutions and unfreeze tight credit. The Bush administration's comments come amid further signs that the number of Americans looking for work is growing.

白宫表示，尽管联邦政府采取了大刀阔斧的措施帮助金融机构化解冻结了的信贷市场，但是经济增长和创造就业依然面临困难。布什政府发表这番评论的同时，更多的迹象显示寻找工作的美国人变得越来越多。

As a rule, White House spokespeople strenuously 2 avoid economic predictions, particularly when the nation's financial outlook is dim.

白宫发言人通常都要极力避免做出经济预测，特别是在金融前景暗淡的时候。

So it was all the more remarkable 3 that President Bush's press secretary, Dana Perino, all but stated that the United States could be in a recession.

所以，布什总统的新闻秘书佩里诺坦言美国可能会进入经济衰退是一个极不寻常的做法。

"We are in for a rocky road on the employment front, and expect our GDP [gross domestic product] number next week not to be a good one," she said. "And the next quarter could probably be tough, as well."

"我们在就业方面道路很不平坦。估计，下个星期公布的国内生产总值数据可能不会好。下个季度，情况可能会相当严峻。”

Two consecutive 4 quarters of negative economic growth meet the technical definition of a recession.

如果连续两个季度经济出现负增长就符合了经济衰退的技术要求。

Earlier in the day, the Labor 5 Department reported another jump in the number of people filing for government unemployment benefits. The news came as a wide variety of U.S. companies - from Internet firms to investment houses to auto 6 manufacturers - announced cuts in their workforces 7. Many of America's best-known corporations have recently announced disappointing earnings 8 that point to a broad economic slowdown.

星期四早些时候，劳工部报告说，申请政府失业补贴的人数再次大幅度增加。就在这个报告出台的同时，各类美国企业，从因特网公司到投资公司再到汽车制造商，纷纷宣布裁员的计划。许多美国最著名的企业最近公布的财报也令人失望，显示经济在全面减速。

On Capitol Hill, former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said the United States is facing a "once-in-a-century tsunami 9" of tight credit and housing woes 10. He predicted the economy will get worse before it gets better.

在国会方面，前美联储主席格林斯潘在听证会上表示，美国正面临“百年不遇”的信贷紧缩和房地产市场衰退的风暴。他预计，经济在好转之前还会进一步恶化。

Perino did not challenge Greenspan's assessment 11, saying current economic conditions make it all the more important that the financial rescue package President Bush signed into law earlier this month be implemented 12 as quickly as possible.

佩里诺并没有反驳格林斯潘的预测。她表示，根据目前的经济状况，尽快执行布什总统这个月早些时候签署的金融纾困计划显得格外重要。

"I do not forecast from here [the podium], but looking at reality and how long it is going to take for people to return this country to job growth, it could be a while," she said. "The president knows that we are in for a rough ride, which is why he has asked us to work everyday to try to make sure that we are doing everything we can to pull us out of this slowdown."

"我不做出任何预测，但是看看实际情况，究竟需要多久才能恢复美国的就业增长呢？看来还需要一段时间。布什总统知道我们处于困难时期。正因为这样，他才要求我们每天努力，尽我们所有的力量争取走出经济放缓的阶段。”

In February, when the first signs of economic weakness were emerging, Congress passed an economic stimulus 13 plan consisting mainly of rebate 14 checks to American taxpayers 15. Asked about the prospects 16 of rapidly enacting 17 a second stimulus package, Perino noted 18 that Congress will not be in full session until after the November elections.

二月份，经济疲软出现端倪的时候，国会通过了经济刺激方案，主要包括给美国纳税人发放税金返还支票。在回答关于第二个经济刺激方案是否能够迅速通过的问题时，佩里诺表示，国会要到11月大选结束之后才恢复议事。