Job Losses Become Major Issue

Jim Malone

Concern over job losses in the United States has emerged as a major issue in the 2004 presidential campaign. The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee¹, Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, has made the jobs issue a central focus of his campaign.
During a recent campaign stop in Illinois, Senator Kerry noted² that the U.S. economy has lost more than two million jobs since President Bush took office in 2001. "2004 cannot, cannot be just another year of politics as usual. The challenges that we face are simply too great and too grave. Every minute that passes, we are losing two jobs to other countries," he said.
The job losses remain a major concern for the president's re-election campaign. But Bush supporters are quick to point out that other key indicators⁴ such as economic growth and interest rates remain positive.
Nonetheless, the president does mention his concern over job losses in every major speech he gives, including his most recent Saturday radio address. "The unemployment rate of 5.6 percent is below the average unemployment rate in the 1970s, the 1980s and the 1990s. And last month marked the sixth consecutive⁵ month of increased employment in America," he said.
But pollsters and political analysts⁷ say job loss fears rank high among voters concerned with economic issues.
Karlyn Bowman monitors public opinion for the American Enterprise Institute here in Washington. She says the renewed focus on the outsourcing, or transfer, of U.S. jobs overseas to cut costs has become a major concern among American voters. "Job anxiety is not as great as it was in the early 1980s by any stretch, or the early 1990s. But it is still front and center. By 68 to 23 [percent], people disagreed with the government official who recently said that the outsourcing of American service jobs to other countries is not only inevitable⁸, but good for Americans," she says.
The concern over jobs became a significant issue in some of the recent Democratic presidential primaries, especially in states like South Carolina and Wisconsin, which have experienced jobs losses in recent years.
The jobs issue is likely to become a critical factor in several closely contested states in the November election, including traditional battleground states like Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania.
William Schneider, a political analyst⁶ for the American Enterprise Institute and CNN, says "the issue that is there is jobs, jobs, jobs. And the central theme of this election right now, without any sudden shift in the international scene, is the loss of jobs under this administration. And that issue is enormous out there in the country. Americans do not look at any other economic indicator³ very seriously except for jobs, because jobs are what the American Dream is all about."
Historically, economic issues have a greater impact on presidential elections than those related to foreign policy. But analysts also caution that renewed fears of terrorism could alter the focus of the election to national security issues, something many of them believe would help President Bush.

注释：
presumptive [pri5zQmptiv] adj. 可据以推定的
point out 指出
indicator [5indikeitE] n. 指标
nonetheless [7nQnTE5les] adv. 虽然如此
consecutive [kEn5sekjutiv] adj. 连续的
pollster [5pEulstE] n. 民意调查人
outsource [5aut7sC:rs] v.（将……业务、工程等）外包
Michigan [5miFi^En] n. 密歇根州（美国州名）
Pennsylvania [pensil5veinjE] n. 宾夕法尼亚州（美国州名）

1 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

2 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

3 indicator   

n.指标；指示物，指示者；指示器

参考例句：

• Gold prices are often seen as an indicator of inflation.黃金价格常常被看作是通货膨胀的指标。
• His left-hand indicator is flashing.他左手边的转向灯正在闪亮。

4 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。

5 consecutive   

adj.连续的，联贯的，始终一贯的

参考例句：

• It has rained for four consecutive days.已连续下了四天雨。
• The policy of our Party is consecutive.我党的政策始终如一。

6 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

7 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。

8 inevitable   

adj.不可避免的，必然发生的

参考例句：

• Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
• The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。