US Consumer Confidence Drops

 　　U.S. consumer confidence dropped in January. A private research group, the Conference Board, says its monthly survey of consumer sentiment showed people increasingly think jobs are more difficult to find.

　　The group's closely watched index fell from 65 in December to 61 in the first month of the new year, well below the 90 level signaling a healthy economy.

　　Economists¹ monitor consumer sentiment as a hint about the future of the national economy, because consumer spending accounts for 70 percent of the U.S. economic output.  The the world's largest economy has sluggishly² recovered from the recession in 2007 to 2009, but 13-million workers remain unemployed³.

　　Consumer worries about employment prospects⁴ may mirror January employment numbers the U.S. government will release Friday.  In December, America added 200,000 jobs, but economists are predicting the country only created 125,000 in January.

　　With 8.5 percent of the workforce⁵ unemployed, President Barack Obama called for Congress to quickly pass job-creating measures.  He wants to extend tax breaks for small businesses and give new assistance to entrepreneurs who start companies.

　　While the American economy has advanced slowly, the U.S. government has also struggled to curb⁶ its deficit⁷ spending.  The national debt has ballooned to a record-high of more than $15 trillion, and government officials say the trend is continuing.  They projected a $1.1 trillion budget deficit for the year ending in September.  That is down from last year's $1.3 trillion figure, but still high by historical standards.

1 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》

2 sluggishly   

adv.懒惰地；缓慢地

参考例句：

• The river is silted up and the water flows sluggishly. 河道淤塞，水流迟滞。
• Loaded with 870 gallons of gasoline and 40 gallons of oil, the ship moved sluggishly. 飞机载着八百七十加仑汽油和四十加仑机油，缓慢地前进了。 来自英汉非文学 - 百科语料821

3 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。

4 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。

5 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。

6 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。

7 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。