VOA标准英语2011--Unemployment Rises in Spain

Unemployment Rises in Spain

八月份西班牙失业率上升
Spain's Labor¹ Ministry² says the number of people filing claims for unemployment benefits rose in August, bringing the total to 4.13 million. European governments, like many around the world, are struggling to bolster³ economic growth while containing major public deficits⁵.
The number claiming unemployment benefits in Spain went up by more than 50,000 last month.
上月，西班牙申领失业救济的人数增加了50,000多人。
Spain's Labor Ministry says the hike is typical of the month of August but, nonetheless, discouraging.
西班牙劳工部表示，八月份的上涨是比较典型的，但是却令人气馁。
"Spain has the largest unemployment rate in the euro area and one of the largest unemployment rates in the world," noted⁶ Javier Diaz-Gimenez, professor of economics at the IESE Business School in Madrid. "In fact, our employment rate currently is about twice the euro area average and about three times the unemployment rate in Germany."
“在整个欧元区乃至全世界，西班牙的失业率都是最高的。”马德里IESE商学院经济学教授Javier Diaz-Gimenez表示。“实际上，我们目前的失业率是欧元区平均水平的两倍，是德国失业率的三倍。”
Spain's unemployment rate is more than 20 percent. For those under the age of 25, it is more than 45 percent.
西班牙的失业率超过20%。25岁以下人群的失业率超过45%。
But economic growth does not appear to be on the horizon. Spain, like a number of European nations, is struggling with a major public deficit⁴.
但是经济增长似乎又遥不可及。西班牙像其他几个欧洲国家一样面临重大的财政赤字。
Greece, Portugal and Ireland have already had to borrow money from their euro neighbors in order to avoid defaulting on their debts. It has not yet come to that in Spain, and its lawmakers want to keep it that way.
希腊，葡萄牙和爱尔兰为了避免债务违约已经向欧元区邻国借款。西班牙目前还没到这种程度，其立法者也尽量避免这种情况的发生。
On Friday, the lower house of parliament approved an amendment⁷ to the constitution that will force the government to keep its deficit low in the future. The legislation is now set to go to parliament's upper house. The controversial move is aimed at calming investor⁸ fears over Spain's public finances.
周五，议会下院通过了宪法修正案，强迫政府未来保持较低的赤字。该立法即将被送往议会上院。该有争议的举动是为了平息投资者对西班牙公共财政的担忧。
Diaz-Gimenez says controlling sovereign debt means hikes in taxes and cuts in public spending, policies that do little to stimulate⁹ economic growth.
Diaz-Gimenez表示，控制主权债务意味着增加税收，削减公共支出，这些政策对刺激经济增长的效果不大。
"Policymakers in Spain face this hard choice between growth and budget stability, and they are choosing budget stability because it is the lesser¹⁰ of the two evils," added Diaz-Gimenez.
“西班牙政策制定者面临经济增长和预算平衡的两难选择。他们选择了预算平衡，因为两者相比这个次要一些。”
Governments across Europe and beyond are facing a similar conundrum¹¹.
欧洲以及欧洲以外的政府都面临类似的难题。
In Italy, economic experts from around the world gathered for the annual Ambrosetti Economy Forum¹² on Friday. Worries about recession and slow growth opened the talks, with New York University economist¹³ Nouriel Roubini warning of a "significant probability" of a double-dip recession.
周五，来自世界各地的经济学专家在意大利聚集，参加一年一度的安博思经济论坛。会议一开始便探讨了对经济衰退和经济增长缓慢的担忧。纽约大学经济学家Nouriel Roubini警告称出现双谷衰退的可能性非常大。
Speaking from the conference, Harvard University Economics Professor Martin Feldstein says the outlook in the United States and across much of Europe is grim, not to mention Spain.
哈佛大学经济学教授Martin Feldstein在会议上发表讲话称，美国和欧洲大部分国家的前景都非常惨淡，更不要说西班牙。
"The numbers that we've seen recently for the U.S. on manufacturing, on construction, on consumers' sentiment tell me that the odds¹⁴ have gotten much greater, that the U.S. is going to continue to decline, and that we are going to be in a formal recession before the end of the year," Feldstein noted. "In Europe, again I don't think you can talk about a single outlook for Europe. Germany is strong, Greece is in terrible shape, Spain has 20-plus percent unemployment. So some of the countries are already in economic downturn here in Europe."
“我们最近看到的美国制造业，建筑业，消费者信心方面的数据告诉我，美国经济继续衰退的可能性进一步增加，我们在今年年底之前将正式进入经济衰退。在欧洲，我认为你不可能只讨论欧洲的单一前景。德国非常强大，希腊非常糟糕，西班牙的失业率高达20%。所以，欧洲的一些国家已经进入经济低迷。”
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said Friday that nonfarm payroll¹⁵ employment was unchanged in August, keeping the unemployment rate at 9.1 percent. 14 million Americans are out of work.
美国劳动统计局周五表示，八月份的非农业就业率没有变化，失业率仍然高达9.1%。1400万美国人失业。

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 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

3 bolster   

n.枕垫；v.支持，鼓励

参考例句：

• The high interest rates helped to bolster up the economy.高利率使经济更稳健。
• He tried to bolster up their morale.他尽力鼓舞他们的士气。

4 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

5 deficits   

n.不足额( deficit的名词复数 )；赤字；亏空；亏损

参考例句：

• The Ministry of Finance consistently overestimated its budget deficits. 财政部一贯高估预算赤字。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Many of the world's farmers are also incurring economic deficits. 世界上许多农民还在遭受经济上的亏损。 来自辞典例句

6 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。

7 amendment   

n.改正，修正，改善，修正案

参考例句：

• The amendment was rejected by 207 voters to 143.这项修正案以207票对143票被否决。
• The Opposition has tabled an amendment to the bill.反对党已经就该议案提交了一项修正条款。

8 investor   

n.投资者，投资人

参考例句：

• My nephew is a cautious investor.我侄子是个小心谨慎的投资者。
• The investor believes that his investment will pay off handsomely soon.这个投资者相信他的投资不久会有相当大的收益。

9 stimulate   

vt.刺激，使兴奋；激励，使…振奋

参考例句：

• Your encouragement will stimulate me to further efforts.你的鼓励会激发我进一步努力。
• Success will stimulate the people for fresh efforts.成功能鼓舞人们去作新的努力。

10 lesser   

adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地

参考例句：

• Kept some of the lesser players out.不让那些次要的球员参加联赛。
• She has also been affected,but to a lesser degree.她也受到波及，但程度较轻。

11 conundrum   

n.谜语；难题

参考例句：

• Let me give you some history about a conundrum.让我给你们一些关于谜题的历史。
• Scientists had focused on two explanations to solve this conundrum.科学家已锁定两种解释来解开这个难题。

12 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

13 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

14 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

15 payroll   

n.工资表，在职人员名单，工薪总额

参考例句：

• His yearly payroll is $1.2 million.他的年薪是120万美元。
• I can't wait to get my payroll check.我真等不及拿到我的工资单了。