Europe Faces More Negative Economic Indicators

 　　The 17 eurozone nations are facing a new wave of negative economic indicators¹, a further signal that Europe's currency bloc² is headed toward a recession.

　　The European Commission said Friday that executive and consumer confidence dropped in December to the lowest point in more than two years. Factory orders in Germany, with the eurozone's strongest economy, fell nearly 5 percent in November, erasing³ a similar gain the month before.

　　Meanwhile, retail⁴ sales slid eight-tenths of a percent in November, and unemployment remained at a record high of 10.3 percent for the second straight month. In the broader 27-nation European Union, more than 23 million workers were unemployed⁵ in October. Spain topped the list with a nearly 23 percent jobless rate.

　　One economic analyst⁶, Martin Van Vliet of the ING bank, said the breadth of the new reports "has recession written all over it." He said Europe's two-year governmental debt crisis, fears of a recession and austerity measures imposed by governments, cut consumer confidence in the last several months.

　　Three countries - Greece, Ireland and Portugal - have already been forced to seek international bailouts, and Greece is negotiating the terms of a new $169 billion aid package. Financial analysts⁷ fear that Italy and Spain, the eurozone's third and fourth largest economies, could also need help but that their debts could be too large for the continent to handle.

　　Borrowing costs for both Italy and Spain spiraled up on Friday, with Italy's interest rate for 10-year bonds topping 7 percent. European governments consider that borrowing rate to be unsustainable over the long term.

　　Hungary, just outside the eurozone, also faced new negative economic news. Fitch Ratings, a financial services firm, downgraded the Budapest government's credit standing⁸ to junk status. Fitch said the new rating reflects the "further deterioration⁹" of the country's economy.

1 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。

2 bloc   

n.集团；联盟

参考例句：

• A solid bloc of union members support the decision.工会会员团结起来支持该决定。
• There have been growing tensions within the trading bloc.贸易同盟国的关系越来越紧张。

3 erasing   

v.擦掉( erase的现在分词 )；抹去；清除

参考例句：

• He was like a sponge, erasing the past, soaking up the future. 他象一块海绵，挤出过去，吸进未来。 来自辞典例句
• Suddenly, fear overtook longing, erasing memories. 突然，恐惧淹没了渴望，泯灭了回忆。 来自辞典例句

4 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。

5 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。

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 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

9 deterioration   

n.退化；恶化；变坏

参考例句：

• Mental and physical deterioration both occur naturally with age. 随着年龄的增长，心智和体力自然衰退。
• The car's bodywork was already showing signs of deterioration. 这辆车的车身已经显示出了劣化迹象。