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美国就业步伐加快、但失业率仍在5.7%

U.S. companies beat expectations in the government’s latest jobs report, hiring 257,000 workers in January. The Labor¹ Department also raised job gains in the previous two months by 150,000 jobs.

美国企业一月份的雇佣记录超过预期，新雇了25万7千名员工。美国劳动部公布的数据显示，2014年11月和12月，实际就业人数也比此前公布的数目要高出15万。

Although the job growth was strong, it wasn’t enough to lower the unemployment rate, which rose slightly to 5.7 percent.  But analysts² say last month's job numbers reinforce the notion of a steadily³ improving U.S. economy, at least for now.

不过，失业率目前还维持在5.7%，并没有大幅下滑。分析人士说，从总体上讲，美国经济 – 至少目前来讲 – 呈稳步上升趋势。

The solid January hiring numbers marked the longest consecutive⁴ stretch of job growth above 200,000 per month in more than two decades, something U.S. Treasury⁵ Secretary Jack⁶ Lew reminded lawmakers of this week.

今年一月份美国的就业持续增长，这是过去20多年来美国就业增长连续超过20万的最长一段时期。财政部长杰克.卢在国会说：

“The fact is our businesses created nearly 3 million jobs last year, the most jobs in any year since the late 1990s,” he said.

他说： “我国的企业在去年一年里创造了将近300万个就业机会，这是自从90年代后期以来，最高的一年。”

Job gains came across the board — in retail⁷, construction and health care. But not only did private sector⁸ hiring increase, so did average wages, which rose 12 cents an hour.

就业机会的增长呈现在各个行业，包括零售、建筑以及卫生保健。不仅私营企业的工作机会增加了，而且平均工资也有所上扬 – 平均每小时上涨了12美分。

That’s worth noting, said Mark Hamrick, Bankrate.com’s Washington bureau chief.

华盛顿分析人士哈姆里克通过Skype接受美国之音采访时说，这些数字比较显著。

“I think we continue to need to watch for sustained income gains, because we have remarkably⁹ low inflation in the United States right now," he said. "And right now, income gains are rising at a pace that is above inflation, and that’s a very positive development.  But keep in mind it’s been many years where Americans have not seen a significant improvement in their household incomes.”

他说：“应当继续关注收入的增加，美国国内目前的通货膨胀率非常之低。收入的增长率要高出通货膨胀率，这是非常积极的现象。不过，要知道，前些年里，美国民众的收入一直没有十分显著的增长。”

The unemployment rate did inch higher last month, but economists¹¹ say that’s because more people started looking for work.  Analysts expect new hires will fuel the U.S. economy in the next two quarters. After that, it's anybody's guess.

上个月，美国的失业率确实有些微提高，但是经济学家认为，那是因为有更多的人在积极找工作。分析人士预计，接下来的两个季度里，新增的就业将促进美国的总体经济，但是在那之后，恐怕就很难说了。

Max Wolff, chief economist¹⁰ at Manhattan Venture Partners, said the general expectation "is that we are going to continue to see some strong numbers under the U.S. macroeconomy through Q1 into Q2 [from January to June 2015], and then the weakness in the rest of the world is going to catch up with us."

经济学家麦克斯.沃尔夫说：“普遍的预期是，今年上半年，美国的经济应该会看到比较强劲的增长，之后呢，其他国家和地区的弱势经济增长可能就会影响到这里。”

Despite the healthy job numbers, U.S. stocks were down Friday as investors¹² pondered the possibility that the U.S. Federal Reserve could start raising interest rates sooner — as the economy improves.

尽管一月份的就业数字令人鼓舞，但是美国股市上星期五下跌，原因大概是，投资人担心，由于经济状况的好转，美联储有可能提早抬升利率。