U.S. economy showing real strength: Obama

     WASHINGTON, April 1 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. economy was showing signs of "real strength", declared President Barack Obama on Friday after the government released improving unemployment rate report.

    "Our economy is showing signs of real strength," Obama said at a UPS shipping¹ facility(设施设备) in Maryland.

    Data from the Labor² Department Friday showed that the unemployment rate in March dropped to 8.8 percent, the lowest level in two years. It has been falling for four consecutive³ months, down from 9.8 percent in November 2010.

    "The unemployment rate has now fallen a full point in the last four months, the last time that happened was during the recovery in 1984," Obama said.

    Economists expect that the economy may create 2.5 million jobs over the rest of this year.

    "Now, despite that good news, everybody here knows we have a lot more work to do. There are still millions of Americans out there who are looking for a job that pays the bills," Obama said.

    Total number of unemployed⁴ Americans decreased by about 200,000 in March to 13.5 million. That is still about double the total that were out of work before the recession began in December 2007.

    Obama said even as he deals with crises around the world, the U. S. economy is his first priority.

    According to the latest government data, the U.S. economy grew at 3.1 percent in the forth⁵ quarter in 2010, quicker than the 2.6 percent pace in the third quarter of 2010. It was the best quarterly showing since the start of last year. For all of 2010, the economy grew 2.9 percent, the most since 2005.

    Another report from the U.S. Institute of Supply Management (ISM) on Friday showed that U.S. manufacturing sector⁶ grew for the 20th consecutive month in March.

    In a recent interview, C. Fred Bergsten, director of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, told Xinhua that he was "quite optimistic" about the U.S. recovery this year. He projected that the overall economy would grow at a near 4 percent pace.(本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑)

1 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

2 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

3 consecutive   

adj.连续的，联贯的，始终一贯的

参考例句：

• It has rained for four consecutive days.已连续下了四天雨。
• The policy of our Party is consecutive.我党的政策始终如一。

4 unemployed   

adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的

参考例句：

• There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
• The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。

5 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

6 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。