纽约时报 美11月就业人数仅新增21万人 失业率降至4.2%

 

 

    Employers recorded the year’s weakest hiring in November, adding only 210,000 jobs on a seasonally¹ adjusted basis, the Labor² Department said Friday.

    美国劳工部(Labor Department)上周五表示，11月份的就业人数为今年以来最低，经季节性因素调整后仅增加了21万人。

    Economists³ had expected the number to be above half a million for the second straight month.

    经济学家曾预计这一数字将连续第二个月增加超过50万。

    The shortfall was particularly stark⁴ given that the data was collected before the emergence⁵ of the Omicron variant⁶ of the coronavirus, the latest turn in the pandemic.

    考虑到这些数据是在奥密克戎变种冠状病毒出现之前收集的，这是疫情的最新变化，因此就业不足尤其明显。

    There was good news in the report, however.

    然而，报告中也有好消息。

    A survey of households showed a big jump in total employment.

    一项对家庭的调查显示，总就业率大幅上升。

    The labor force grew by hundreds of thousands, and the unemployment rate fell to 4.2 percent from 4.6 percent.

    劳动力增加了几十万，失业率从4.6%下降到4.2%。

    The contradictory⁷ data presents President Biden and policymakers with new complications, particularly with Omicron’s potential impact yet to be established.

    这些矛盾的数据给拜登总统和政策制定者带来了新的麻烦，尤其是在奥密克戎的潜在影响尚未确定的情况下。

    The report also offers few clues to businesses about the months ahead.

    该报告也没有为企业提供关于未来几个月的线索。

    With inflation surging to its highest rate in decades, Federal Reserve officials are weighing whether to step up efforts to rein⁸ in prices.

    随着通胀率飙升至几十年来的最高水平，美联储官员正在权衡是否要加大力度控制物价。

    And the Biden administration is eager to point to an accelerating recovery as a validation⁹ of its policies — including the $1.9 trillion stimulus¹⁰ package signed in March, the American Rescue Plan.

    拜登政府急于把经济加速复苏作为其政策的验证，包括3月份签署的1.9万亿美元的刺激计划，即美国救援计划。

    But Mr. Biden has been forced to concede that many Americans do not feel that improvement and have grown more pessimistic about the economy and his handling of it.

    但拜登被迫承认，许多美国人并没有感受到这种改善，他们对经济以及他对经济的处理方式变得更加悲观。

    On Friday, he hailed the drop in the unemployment rate as a vindication¹¹ of his administration’s policies — while acknowledging the mixed signals in the jobs report.

    周五，他称赞失业率的下降证明了政府的政策是正确的，但同时承认就业报告中发出了好坏参半的信号。

    “Our economy is markedly stronger than it was a year ago,” he declared.

    “我们的经济明显强于一年前，”他宣称。

    But he went on to say: “It’s not enough to know that we’re making progress.

    但他接着说:“仅仅知道我们正在取得进展是不够的。

    You need to see it and feel it in your own lives — around the kitchen table, in your checkbooks.”

    你需要在自己的生活中观察到它，感受到它——在餐桌旁，在支票簿上。”

    Economic indicators¹² were already ambiguous.

    经济指标本来就不明确。

    Consumer confidence readings have been at a low ebb¹³, but Americans have been on a spending spree, and investors¹⁴ seem unperturbed.

    消费者信心指数一直处于低潮，但美国人一直在疯狂消费，投资者似乎不为所动。

    Stocks declined on Friday but remain near record highs.

    周五股市下跌，但仍接近历史高位。

    The lackluster hiring number in the latest government report was a reminder¹⁵ of the uneven¹⁶ momentum¹⁷ in the labor market since the pandemic began nearly two years ago.

    最新的政府报告中就业人数的低迷提醒人们，自近两年前疫情开始以来，劳动力市场的发展势头不均衡。

    Job gains in businesses requiring face-to-face contact — like stores, restaurants, bars and hotels — were especially soft last month.

    上个月，需要面对面接触的商店、餐馆、酒吧和酒店等行业的就业增长尤其疲软。

    Retail¹⁸ employment dropped by 20,000 on a seasonally adjusted basis, while hiring in leisure and hospitality industries rose by 23,000, compared with a gain of 170,000 in October.

    经季节性调整后，零售业就业人数减少了2万人，而休闲和服务业就业人数增加了2.3万人，而10月份增加了17万人。

    Part of the puzzle in the data released on Friday arose because the Labor Department report is based on two surveys, one polling households and the other recording¹⁹ hiring among employers.

    周五公布的数据之所以令人费解，部分原因在于劳工部的报告基于两项调查，一项是家庭调查，另一项是雇主雇佣情况调查。

    For about the past half-year, the survey of households had been showing significantly weaker job growth than its sister survey — until last month, when it was much stronger.

    在过去大约半年的时间里，家庭调查显示的就业增长一直明显弱于其姊妹调查——直到上个月，该调查显示的就业增长要强劲得多。

    It showed overall employment, for example, growing by 1.1 million, seasonally adjusted.

    例如，该报告显示，经季节性因素调整后，整体就业人数增加了110万人。

    Economists generally put more trust in the employer survey, which has a much larger sample size.

    经济学家普遍更相信抽样规模大得多的雇主调查。

    So the recent pattern suggests that the household survey had been undercounting employment and, in effect, caught up in November.

    因此，最近的调查模式表明，家庭调查一直在低估就业，实际上在11月就业人数就赶上了。

1 seasonally   

参考例句：

• The price of vegetables fluctuates seasonally. 蔬菜的价格随季节变动。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They moved seasonally among various vegetation types to feed on plants that were flourishing. 它们还随着季节的变化而在各种类型植物之间迁移，以便吃那些茂盛的植物。 来自辞典例句

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 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 stark   

adj.荒凉的；严酷的；完全的；adv.完全地

参考例句：

• The young man is faced with a stark choice.这位年轻人面临严峻的抉择。
• He gave a stark denial to the rumor.他对谣言加以完全的否认。

5 emergence   

n.浮现，显现，出现，（植物）突出体

参考例句：

• The last decade saw the emergence of a dynamic economy.最近10年见证了经济增长的姿态。
• Language emerges and develops with the emergence and development of society.语言是随着社会的产生而产生，随着社会的发展而发展的。

6 variant   

adj.不同的，变异的；n.变体，异体

参考例句：

• We give professional suggestions according to variant tanning stages for each customer.我们针对每位顾客不同的日晒阶段，提供强度适合的晒黑建议。
• In a variant of this approach,the tests are data- driven.这个方法的一个变种，是数据驱动的测试。

7 contradictory   

adj.反驳的，反对的，抗辩的；n.正反对，矛盾对立

参考例句：

• The argument is internally contradictory.论据本身自相矛盾。
• What he said was self-contradictory.他讲话前后不符。

8 rein   

n.疆绳，统治，支配；vt.以僵绳控制，统治

参考例句：

• The horse answered to the slightest pull on the rein.只要缰绳轻轻一拉,马就作出反应。
• He never drew rein for a moment till he reached the river.他一刻不停地一直跑到河边。

9 validation   

n.确认

参考例句：

• If the countdown timer ever hits zero, do your validation processing. 处理这种情况的方法是在输入的同时使用递减计时器，每次击键重新计时。如果递减计时器变为零，就开始验证。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• Although the validation control is a very widespread idiom, most such controls can be improved. 虽然确认控件是非常广泛的习惯用法，但还有很多有待改进的地方。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

10 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。

11 vindication   

n.洗冤，证实

参考例句：

• There is much to be said in vindication of his claim.有很多理由可以提出来为他的要求作辩护。
• The result was a vindication of all our efforts.这一结果表明我们的一切努力是必要的。

12 indicators   

（仪器上显示温度、压力、耗油量等的）指针( indicator的名词复数 )； 指示物； （车辆上的）转弯指示灯； 指示信号

参考例句：

• The economic indicators are better than expected. 经济指标比预期的好。
• It is still difficult to develop indicators for many concepts used in social science. 为社会科学领域的许多概念确立一个指标仍然很难。

13 ebb   

vi.衰退，减退；n.处于低潮，处于衰退状态

参考例句：

• The flood and ebb tides alternates with each other.涨潮和落潮交替更迭。
• They swam till the tide began to ebb.他们一直游到开始退潮。

14 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

15 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。

16 uneven   

adj.不平坦的，不规则的，不均匀的

参考例句：

• The sidewalk is very uneven—be careful where you walk.这人行道凹凸不平—走路时请小心。
• The country was noted for its uneven distribution of land resources.这个国家以土地资源分布不均匀出名。

17 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。

18 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。

19 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。