欧元区8月经济稳步增长 德国经济增速相对放缓

 　　The 19-country eurozone lost some economic momentum¹ in August, largely because of a slowdown in Germany, a closely watched survey showed, days ahead of another possible stimulus² package from the European Central Bank.

　　一份密切关注欧元区的调查报告表明，拥有19个成员国的欧元区8月份经济失去了部分活力，很大程度是因为德国经济增速下降。这份报告是在欧洲央行实行可能的刺激方案之前几天发布的。

　　Financial information company IHS Markit said its purchasing managers' index — a broad gauge³ of economic activity — for the eurozone fell to a 19-month low of 52.9 points in August from 53.2 the previous month.

　　金融信息公司IHS Markit声称，欧元区的采购经理人指数--经济活动的一个宏观指标--在8月份降到了19个月以来的最低水平，只有52.9，而上个月是53.2。

　　The fall was unexpected as the initial estimate for August was 53.3.

　　这种下降是出人意料的，因为初步估计8月份的指数是53.3。

　　欧元区8月经济稳步增长 德国经济增速相对放缓

　　In spite of the fall, the eurozone is still growing, albeit⁴ sluggishly⁵ as anything above 50 indicates expansion.

　　尽管这一指数有所下降，但是欧元区经济也在一直增长——虽然增长很缓慢，只稍稍高于50。

　　The firm did not assign any fundamental reason to the slowdown, such as uncertainty⁶ related to Britain's decision in June to leave the European Union, but did note that Germany was "perhaps the biggest cause for concern" as output growth slowed to a 15-month low.

　　IHS Markit没有说明经济放缓的任何一个基本原因，比如6月份英国“脱欧”导致的不稳定，但是却指出德国“可能是经济放缓最大的原因”，因为其产出增长率是15个月以来的最低水平。

　　Italy and France also saw modest rates of growth while Spain remained the "standout performer'' with another strong quarter of growth at around 0.7 percent.

　　意大利和法国的经济增长仍见一般，西班牙的表现依然“十分亮眼”，季度增长率约为0.7%。

　　The firm's chief economist⁷, Chris Williamson, said the survey overall was "clearly disappointing'' and suggested it may fuel expectations of a further stimulus package from the European Central Bank this week.

　　IHS Markit首席经济师克里斯·威廉姆森称，报告整体上“明显让人失望”，他还暗示，这将燃起人们对欧洲央行于本周出台经济刺激方案的期待。

　　"The survey data will fuel expectations that the ECB would prefer not to wait before injecting more stimulus into the economy, adding pressure for policymakers to act later this week to help shore up confidence in both the outlook for the economy and the bank's commitment to its inflation target," he said.

　　他表示：“调查数据增强了对欧洲央行本周的经济刺激方案的期待，欧洲央行会尽快采取更多经济刺激措施，向政策制定者们施加压力，使他们行动起来帮助重建（人们对世界经济）经济前景的信心，以及央行完成通货膨胀目标承诺的信心。"

1 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

2 stimulus   

n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物

参考例句：

• Regard each failure as a stimulus to further efforts.把每次失利看成对进一步努力的激励。
• Light is a stimulus to growth in plants.光是促进植物生长的一个因素。

3 gauge   

v.精确计量；估计；n.标准度量；计量器

参考例句：

• Can you gauge what her reaction is likely to be?你能揣测她的反应可能是什么吗？
• It's difficult to gauge one's character.要判断一个人的品格是很困难的。

4 albeit   

conj.即使；纵使；虽然

参考例句：

• Albeit fictional,she seemed to have resolved the problem.虽然是虚构的，但是在她看来好象是解决了问题。
• Albeit he has failed twice,he is not discouraged.虽然失败了两次，但他并没有气馁。

5 sluggishly   

adv.懒惰地；缓慢地

参考例句：

• The river is silted up and the water flows sluggishly. 河道淤塞，水流迟滞。
• Loaded with 870 gallons of gasoline and 40 gallons of oil, the ship moved sluggishly. 飞机载着八百七十加仑汽油和四十加仑机油，缓慢地前进了。 来自英汉非文学 - 百科语料821

6 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。

7 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。