President Barack Obama is proposing several measures his administration says will create millions of jobs and stimulate the sluggish economy. The nation's high unemployment rate has hit minority groups in the United States especially hard. Nearly three-million African Americans are having a hard time finding work after several years of massive job losses.
奥巴马总统提出几项政府认为将创造数百万就业和刺激疲软经济的措施。全国的高失业率对美国少数族群的打击尤其严重。将近300万非洲裔美国人经过几年的解雇潮流之后正在历经找工难的艰苦过程。黑人失业率已经达到27年以来的最高点。
Long lines at corporate job hiring fairs illustrate just how many Americans are looking for work. The situation is especially dire for African Americans. David Baker is looking for work in the banking industry in Los Angeles. "I have applied for, I would have to say, pretty close to over 300 jobs in the last year," he said.
招聘会上大排长龙，凸显有多少美国人正在找工作。情况对非裔美国人来说尤为严重。戴维.贝克想在洛杉矶银行业谋份差事。他说：“过去一年来，我想我已经申请了快300个工作了。”
The U.S. Labor Department says the nation's unemployment rate remains unchanged at 9. 1 percent. But the jobless figure for African Americans is nearly double, at 16.7 percent, the highest its been since 1984.
美国劳工部说，全国失业率仍然徘徊在9.1%，而非裔美国人失业率则近两倍，也就是16.7%，这是1984年以来最高的。
Economist Heidi Shierholz is with the Economic Policy Institute in Washington "So what we are seeing now with the black unemployment rate is actually what we would expect given the overall state of weakness in the labor market. What we are experiencing here is just a profound lack of jobs across the board and that hits racial and ethnic minorities harder," Shierholz said.
海迪.谢尔霍兹是华盛顿经济政策研究所的经济学家。她说：“我们看到的黑人失业率问题实际是在整个劳工市场疲软的情况下可以预期的现象。我们现在经历的是整体就业严重缺失，这对少数族裔打击更大。”
Some African Americans job-seekers say even in sectors that are hiring, like healthcare, the competition is fierce.
有些非裔找工者说，即便在那些雇人的领域，像医疗保健行业，竞争也相当激烈。
"While I was in school I thought it would have been easier. I said to myself as soon as I get out I will get a job because there is such a shortage of nurses all over. But it has been difficult, since December I have been looking for work," said one job seeker.
一名非裔女子说：“我念书时没想到会这么难。以为一毕业就能找到工作，因为到处都缺护士。可实际上很困难，从12月开始我就一直在找工作。”
President Barack Obama says high unemployment is holding down economic growth. He is asking lawmakers to approve a series of measures his administration believes will create jobs. "Our economy has to grow faster. We have to create more jobs and we have to do it faster," Obama said.
奥巴马总统说，高失业正在拖经济增长的后腿。他请求国会批准一系列白宫相信将创造就业的措施。奥巴马总统说：“我们的经济必须加速增长。我们要创造更多就业，而且赶快行动。”
Analysts say there is also political pressure on Obama from African Americans supporters to fight for those hit hardest by the economic downturn. Marc Morial is president of the National Urban League. "If he [President Obama] recommends a bold and imaginative jobs plan there will be those on the far right [Conservative Republicans] who howl in disagreement. But there will be those in Americas urban communities in Americas rural communities the weak, the disadvantaged, that will cheer we need a jobs plan," Morial stated.
分析人士说，奥巴马还受到来自非裔支持者的政治压力。他们期待总统为那些在经济滑坡中受创最严重的群体争取机会。“全国都市同盟”的主席马克.莫瑞尔说：“如果他提出大胆而富有想象力的就业计划，那些极右派就会声嘶力竭地反对。但是，美国城镇的弱势群体却会欢呼，我们需要就业措施。”
One program the Obama Administration wants to invest in targets assistance for the long-term unemployed.
有一个奥巴马政府要投资的项目的目标是帮助那些长期失业者。
Jacklyn Willis has been out of work for six months. Now she is in a program that gives unemployed workers eight weeks of training at selected companies at no cost to the employer. "It is a win, win scenario. I decided that if I could go somewhere and volunteer for a while to see if it is a fit for me, and they [the company] get to see if it is a fit for them, then there is nothing to lose," Willis noted.
杰克琳.维利丝已经失业6个月了。现在，她正在参加一个让失业员工在特选的公司受训8个星期的项目，这个项目无须雇主掏钱。维利丝说：“这是个双赢情形。我可以到一个公司做一阵子义工，看是否适合自己，公司也可以看我是否适合他们，谁都不吃亏。”
The plan has already shown results in states like Georgia where nearly a quarter of workers in the program were hired by the company at which they trained. Sixty percent of those in the program found work elsewhere.
这个计划已经在乔治亚等州显出效果。在乔治亚州，参加项目者有近四分之一被实习的公司雇用了。60%的人也在别处找到了工作。
Shierholz says direct government hiring programs are needed in African-American and other minority communities. "The key thing in a program like that is that the decisions about where that money would be best employed would be up to local leaders. And there would be some strings attached along the lines of a certain percentage of this stimulus money has to be spent on wages and those projects would be labor intensive," she said.
经济学家谢尔霍兹说，由政府直接雇人的项目是非裔和其他少数族裔所需要的。她说：“这类项目的关键在于把如何最佳使用资金的权力交给当地的领袖。对这类刺激资金的使用也应有些限制，比方有多少比例要用工资，而且这些项目应该是劳动密集型的。”
Economists say high unemployment especially for African Americans could remain high for several years. Community leaders are hopeful that some type of government plan can provide faster relief for millions looking for work now.
经济学家们说，高失业率尤其是非裔的高失业现象可能会持续数年。社区领袖们希望政府能推出某种计划，更快地为数百万找工作者雪中送炭。 |