Obama: US Economy Moving In Right Direction

 　　President Barack Obama is cautiously welcoming Friday's news that the U.S. unemployment rate continues to fall.  The president says the December jobless numbers show that the nation’s economy is moving in the right direction.

　　With unemployment at its lowest level in almost three years, President Obama indicated that Americans have reason to be encouraged.

　　“It is important for the American people to recognize that we have now added 3.2 million new private sector¹ jobs over the last 22 months, nearly 2 million new jobs last year alone," said President Obama.

　　December’s jobless rate was 8.5 percent, two-tenths of a percent below the revised rate for November.  More than 200,000 non-government jobs were added to the economy last month.

　　Still, the president acknowledged Friday that the recovery has not yet touched everyone.

　　“There are still a lot of struggles that people are going through out there," Obama said. "A lot of families are still having a tough time.  A lot of small businesses are still having a tough time.  But we are starting to rebound².  We are moving in the right direction.  We have made real progress.  Now is not the time to stop.”

　　Experts across the political spectrum³ also welcome the improved unemployment figures.  But Liz Rose, with the liberal think tank Campaign for America’s Future, says some segments of the population are not yet receiving the recovery’s benefits.

　　“Particularly, you know, if you are African-American, or if you are over 50, or if you are a student or someone who just graduated from school, the economy is still rough," said Rose. " We cannot just start celebrating.  We really want to still work on fixing the economy and making sure that those people get jobs.”

　　At the conservative Heritage Foundation, research fellow Rea Hederman says the December jobs numbers are a good sign, especially if the downward trend continues.

　　“It confirms that the sharp drop in the unemployment rate that we have seen in the last couple of months is real, so that is very positive news," said  Hederman. "But we still want to be cautious, because we saw a similar report like this back in 2010, in April, and unfortunately, at that point, the good news was fleeting⁴ as the labor⁵ market continued its slog.”

　　Mr. Obama said Friday the increase in job creation can be credited partly to the middle-class tax cut enacted⁶ last year.  And he called on Congress to pass a full-year extension of the payroll⁷ tax cut, to take the place of the two-month extension that passed recently.

　　Rea Hederman says uncertainty⁸ over whether the longer extension will pass is hindering further economic improvement.

　　“Businesses want certainty, and right now coming out of Washington is a whole bunch of uncertainty." he said. "There are a lot of regulations, and even worse, there are policies such as a two-month extension of tax cuts that will do nothing to help the economy.”

　　Nearly all the jobs created in December were in the private sector.  At the same time, state and local governments cut another 12,000 jobs.

　　Liz Rose says government job cuts are also holding back the economic recovery.

　　“Federal, state and local governments are still laying off cops, teachers and firefighters," she said. "And so this is not the time for a premature⁹ turn to austerity.  We need to keep the government programs going that support people who do not have jobs.”

　　The president spoke¹⁰ at the Washington office of the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.  Mr. Obama was introduced by the agency’s director, Richard Cordray.

　　The president appointed Cordray earlier this week without approval from Congress, infuriating many Republican lawmakers, some of whom said the move was illegal.

1 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。

2 rebound   

v.弹回；n.弹回，跳回

参考例句：

• The vibrations accompanying the rebound are the earth quake.伴随这种回弹的振动就是地震。
• Our evil example will rebound upon ourselves.我们的坏榜样会回到我们自己头上的。

3 spectrum   

n.谱，光谱，频谱；范围，幅度，系列

参考例句：

• This is a kind of atomic spectrum.这是一种原子光谱。
• We have known much of the constitution of the solar spectrum.关于太阳光谱的构成，我们已了解不少。

4 fleeting   

adj.短暂的，飞逝的

参考例句：

• The girls caught only a fleeting glimpse of the driver.女孩们只匆匆瞥了一眼司机。
• Knowing the life fleeting,she set herself to enjoy if as best as she could.她知道这种日子转瞬即逝，于是让自已尽情地享受。

5 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。

6 enacted   

制定（法律），通过（法案）( enact的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• legislation enacted by parliament 由议会通过的法律
• Outside in the little lobby another scene was begin enacted. 外面的小休息室里又是另一番景象。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

7 payroll   

n.工资表，在职人员名单，工薪总额

参考例句：

• 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。

8 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• 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。

9 premature   

adj.比预期时间早的；不成熟的，仓促的

参考例句：

• It is yet premature to predict the possible outcome of the dialogue.预言这次对话可能有什么结果为时尚早。
• The premature baby is doing well.那个早产的婴儿很健康。

10 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。