澳洲新闻 (ABC新闻快递) 2010-03-06

European leaders have met to discuss Greece's financial crisis. Germany has ruled out giving Greece any financial aid, saying its new austerity measures should be enough to pull the country out of its debt. The Greek government plans to freeze the pension and increase several taxes. That decision sparked violent protests in Athens with demonstrators trying to storm parliament.

And a latest data at the US shows employers cut fewer jobs than expected in February. Thirty-six thousand jobs were lost last month, analysts¹ were expecting a 50,000 to go. The unemployment rate remains² steady at 9.7 percent. There's  hope the economy may be on the brink³ of creating jobs.

Share markets in the US jumped on the employment news. The Dow Jones ended the session 122 points higher. The NASDAQ soared to its highest close in 18 months. These jobs figures also lifted European shares with London also boasting its best finished in 18 months. Stocks here rose for the fourth week in a row after encouraging retail⁴ sales. The ASX 200 ended the week 17 points higher with the All Ords up a similar amount.

And to the currencies briefly⁵ early on Saturday, the Australian dollar was buying 90 US cents.

And that's ABC Business News.

1 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

2 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

3 brink   

n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿

参考例句：

• The tree grew on the brink of the cliff.那棵树生长在峭壁的边缘。
• The two countries were poised on the brink of war.这两个国家处于交战的边缘。

4 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

5 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。