Fostering strong U.S. economy starts with strong middle class: Obama

 WASHINGTON, Aug. 3 (Xinhua) -- Fostering a strong U.S. economy started with building a strong U.S. middle class, and economic fairness was critical to the nation's recovery, U.S. President Barack Obama said here on Friday.

Speaking at the White House after the release of the latest job report, Obama stressed that the last thing the nation should do in the weak economic recovery is tax increase on middle class families.

Flanked by middle-class Americans, Obama said "if we want to keep moving this country forward, these are the folks who are going to get us there."

Obama said the nation continued to create jobs last month, evidence of the ongoing¹ economic growth. "We've now created 4.5 million new jobs over the last 29 months, and 1.1 million new jobs so far this year," he noted².

U.S. unemployment rose 0.1 percentage point from June to 8.3 percent in July, while the non-farm sector³ added 163,000 new jobs across the country last month, the U.S. Labor⁴ Department reported Friday.

However, Obama stressed that there were still too many Americans looking for jobs, adding that "we've got more work to do on their behalf -- not only to reclaim⁵ all the jobs that were lost during the recession, but also to reclaim the kind of financial security that too many Americans have felt was slipping away from them for too long."

"When families have the security of knowing that their taxes won't go up, they're more likely to spend, and more likely to grow the economy," said Obama, who has geared up his reelection bid.

Obama criticized Republican lawmakers' efforts to extend Bush- era tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans next year, noting that middle class families should not pay more taxes while the wealthiest Americans could pay less.

"Instead of the middle class paying more, we should ask the wealthiest Americans to pay a little more, a modest amount, so that we can reduce our deficit⁶ and still make investments in things like education that help our economy grow," he added.

1 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

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 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

4 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。

5 reclaim   

v.要求归还，收回；开垦

参考例句：

• I have tried to reclaim my money without success.我没能把钱取回来。
• You must present this ticket when you reclaim your luggage.当你要取回行李时，必须出示这张票子。

6 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。