US Economy Creates Far Fewer Jobs than Expected

US Economy Creates Far Fewer Jobs than Expected

 

Barry Wood

A new report by the U.S. Labor¹ Department has stunned³ many economic forecasters.

Jim Smith, a forecaster at the business school at the University of North Carolina, calls the December job report by the Labor Depratment amazingly puzzling. He had expected job growth up to 200,000. He, like economists⁴ advising President Bush, expects about two million new jobs to be created before the November presidential election.

"One thousand is clearly a lousy start. The only thing I can say is it is puzzling. Because it is completely out of character, out of line, really, with all of the other data that are coming in. We had an all-time record Christmas shopping season. And yet retailers⁶ shed workers."

Mr. Smith speculates that companies may be investing in labor saving computer technology that is boosting productivity but eliminating the need to hire more workers. Mr. Smith expects the U.S. economy will expand by at least five percent this year, which would be the best performance in many years.

Mike Donnelly, a forecaster for DRI Global Insights in Philadelphia, says the weak job report is likely to delay any central bank move to raise short-term interest rates, which are currently at their lowest level in 40 years.

"We've got our official forecast the first rate increase comes in May 2004. You know this report coming out maybe that gets delayed until June." 

Other economists expect interest rates to remain unchanged for all of 2004.

The Labor Department report contained other disappointing news on the employment front, even though the unemployment rate is now at a one-year low of 5.7 percent. The report says nearly a half million unemployed⁷ workers were so discouraged by the lack of job prospects⁸ that they dropped out of the work force. That explained why the nation's unemployment rate declined by two tenths of one percent even though there was hardly any job growth.

Despite the slow job growth in December and downward revisions for November economists generally are boosting their forecasts for U.S. and world growth for 2004 and 2005.

 

 

注释：

the U.S. Labor Department  美国劳动部

stun² [stQn] vt. 使大吃一惊

forecaster [5fC:kB:stE] n. 预报员

presidential election  总统大选

lousy [5lauzi] adj. 很糟的，恶心的

out of character  不适合，不相称

out of line  不协调

all-time adj. 空前的，创记录的

retailer⁵ [5ri:teIlE(r)] n. 零售商

shed [Fed] vt. 解雇

speculate [5spekju7leit] vi. 推测，思索

boost [bu:st] vt. 增加，提高

eliminate [i5limineit] vt. 消除

DRI Global Insights  美国环球透视公司，前身为DRI-WEFA，著名的经济咨询公司。

unemployment [5Qnim5plCimEnt] n. 失业

drop out of  退出

work force n. 劳动人口，劳动力

downward [5daunwEd] adj. 下降的

revision [ri5viVEn] n. 修改，修正

1 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。

2 stun   

vt.打昏，使昏迷，使震惊，使惊叹

参考例句：

• When they told me she had gone missing I was totally stunned.他们告诉我她不见了时，我当时完全惊呆了。
• Sam stood his ground and got a blow that stunned him.萨姆站在原地，被一下打昏了。

3 stunned   

adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The fall stunned me for a moment. 那一下摔得我昏迷了片刻。
• The leaders of the Kopper Company were then stunned speechless. 科伯公司的领导们当时被惊得目瞪口呆。

4 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》

5 retailer   

n.零售商(人)

参考例句：

• What are the retailer requirements?零售商会有哪些要求呢？
• The retailer has assembled a team in Shanghai to examine the question.这家零售商在上海组建了一支团队研究这个问题。

6 retailers   

零售商，零售店( retailer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• High street retailers reported a marked increase in sales before Christmas. 商业街的零售商报告说圣诞节前销售量显著提高。
• Retailers have a statutory duty to provide goods suitable for their purpose. 零售商有为他们提供符合要求的货品的法定义务。

7 unemployed   

adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的

参考例句：

• There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
• The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。

8 prospects   

n.希望，前途(恒为复数)

参考例句：

• There is a mood of pessimism in the company about future job prospects. 公司中有一种对工作前景悲观的情绪。
• They are less sanguine about the company's long-term prospects. 他们对公司的远景不那么乐观。