Wall Street suffers worst week this year

 　　NEW YORK, May 4 (Xinhua) -- Wall Street ended its worst week this year with severe sell-off on Friday after the government's highly-anticipated monthly jobs report came in weaker than expected.

　　When the market closed, the Dow Jones industrial average gave up 168.32 points, or 1.27 percent, at 13,038.27. The Standard & Poor's 500 sank 22.47 points, or 1.61 percent, to 1,369.10. The Nasdaq Composite Index tumbled 67.96 points, or 2.25 percent, to 2, 956.34.

　　All 30 Dow components¹ were mired² in negative territory, with Bank of America and Cisco Systems among the worst performers.

　　Energy stocks dropped the most among ten S&P 500 big-cap sectors³ after oil prices plummeting⁴ nearly 4 percent on demand concerns.

　　The sell-off came after the Labor⁵ Department said the economy only added 115,000 new jobs in April, much less than the market expectation of 170,000.

　　The unemployment rate fell to 8.1 percent, lower than the median estimates of 8.2 percent. However, the improvement was because 342,000 people dropped out of the labor force and was no longer counted in the number.

　　After Friday's decline, the blue-chip Dow lost 1.44 percent in last five days. The broader S&P 500 dropped 2.44 percent, the biggest loss since Dec. 17, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq slumped⁶ 3.68 percent for the week.

　　During the coming weekend, investors⁷ will keep a close watch on elections in both France and Greece.

　　In France, a Socialist⁸ candidate who was against the austerity plan seems to have a fat chance to beat current president Nicolas Sarkozy in the country's presidential election, underlying⁹ the political pressure in European countries on the debt issues.

　　Greek society, on the other hand, seems heavily divided on growth-versus-austerity issues, which has the potential to prompt far more volatility¹⁰ once markets reopen on Monday.

　　In other markets, the U.S. dollar rose against most of its major counterparts as disappointing jobs report forced investors to flee into safe-haven assets.

　　U.S. crude oil price plunged¹¹ on Friday and settled below 100 dollars a barrel for the first time since Feb. 13 on rising concerns over global economy.

　　Light, sweet crude for June delivery tumbled 4.05 dollars, or 3. 95 percent to settle at 98.49 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the biggest one-day drop this year. For the week, oil prices gave up 6.44 dollars, or 6.14 percent.

1 components   

（机器、设备等的）构成要素，零件，成分； 成分( component的名词复数 )； [物理化学]组分； [数学]分量； （混合物的）组成部分

参考例句：

• the components of a machine 机器部件
• Our chemistry teacher often reduces a compound to its components in lab. 在实验室中化学老师常把化合物分解为各种成分。

2 mired   

abbr.microreciprocal degree 迈尔德（色温单位）v.深陷( mire的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The country was mired in recession. 这个国家陷入了经济衰退的困境。
• The most brilliant leadership can be mired in detail. 最有才干的领导也会陷于拘泥琐事的困境中。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 sectors   

n.部门( sector的名词复数 )；领域；防御地区；扇形

参考例句：

• Berlin was divided into four sectors after the war. 战后柏林分成了4 个区。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Industry and agriculture are the two important sectors of the national economy. 工业和农业是国民经济的两个重要部门。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

4 plummeting   

v.垂直落下，骤然跌落( plummet的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Prices are rising, falling, going up, going down, shooting up, plummeting, etc. 物价在上涨、下跌、上升、下落、猛然上涨、骤然下跌等。 来自辞典例句
• The enemy plane went plummeting into the sea. 敌机直直掉进海里。 来自辞典例句

5 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。

6 slumped   

大幅度下降，暴跌( slump的过去式和过去分词 )； 沉重或突然地落下[倒下]

参考例句：

• Sales have slumped this year. 今年销售量锐减。
• The driver was slumped exhausted over the wheel. 司机伏在方向盘上，疲惫得睡着了。

7 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

8 socialist   

n.社会主义者；adj.社会主义的

参考例句：

• China is a socialist country,and a developing country as well.中国是一个社会主义国家，也是一个发展中国家。
• His father was an ardent socialist.他父亲是一个热情的社会主义者。

9 underlying   

adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的

参考例句：

• The underlying theme of the novel is very serious.小说隐含的主题是十分严肃的。
• This word has its underlying meaning.这个单词有它潜在的含义。

10 volatility   

n.挥发性，挥发度，轻快，（性格）反复无常

参考例句：

• That was one reason why volatility was so low last year.这也是去年波动性如此低的原因之一。
• Yet because volatility remained low for so long,disaster myopia prevailed.然而，由于相当长的时间里波动性小，灾难短视就获胜了。

11 plunged   

v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
• She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳，从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。