U.S. stocks suffered another drop Friday after a volatile week, amid continuing investor concerns about the U.S. economic situation and signs of a global recession. U.S. lawmakers heard testimony about difficulties Americans are having finding jobs in the weakened economy, as well as new warnings about recession.
星期五，美国股票市场在经过了一个星期的动荡之后，再次落入低谷；投资人仍然担心美国的经济局势以及全球经济衰退的迹象。美国国会就人们在经济疲软的情况下找工作难、以及经济衰退的一些新的迹象等问题，举行听证会。
Trading on Wall Street was in negative territory throughout the day following declines in Asian and European markets.
亚洲和欧洲股市下跌后，星期五一整天，华尔街股市都在下跌。
Analysts attributed global point losses to concerns that a worldwide downturn will hurt corporate profits.
分析人士将世界各地股市滑落的现象归咎于投资者对全球经济衰退给公司的盈利带来的负面影响的关切。
After earlier drops in European markets of between four and six percent, and on Asian markets of more than eight percent, the key Dow Jones index ended the day Friday down 312 points.
欧洲股市早些时候下跌了4%到6%、亚洲股市下跌了8%以上，美国的道琼斯指数星期五股市收盘的时候下跌了312点。
This week, the U.S. economy has been shaken by new data on increasing home foreclosures, although one key indicator on home resales was up more than five percent in September from the previous month.
这个星期，又有新的数据显示，美国人交不起房屋贷款、被迫将住房交给银行拍卖的情况愈加严重，威胁到经济的总体形势。但是另一方面，一个关键的数据显示，九月份的房屋再销售比一个月前，上升了5%还多。
Although the U.S. Congress is formally not in session, a congressional committee heard testimony about job losses, in which ten million Americans are unemployed, including two million for more than six months.
尽管美国国会目前还没有正式复会，但一个委员会还是召开了有关失业问题的听证会。目前，美国的失业人数达到了一千万，其中两百万人失业的时间长达六个月以上。
"There is a realization that recession is setting in and that is likely to be long, it is likely to be deep, and it is going to be global," said Democratic Congressman George Miller, who chairs the House Labor Committee.
民主党国会议员乔治·米勒是众议院劳工委员会的主席。他说：“大家都意识到现在开始进入经济衰退时期，而且可能持续很长一段时间，深入到各个层面，并涉及全球各地。”
The session included testimony from one unemployed American, Dana Stevens of New Jersey. "We have used up almost all of our savings just to continue to pay the mortgage. We have just enough savings left to scrape by on our December payment. After that, I don't know what we will do if I can't find a job."
来自美国新泽西州的一位名叫史蒂文斯的失业人士在听证会上做了发言。他说：“为了偿付买房贷款，我们已经差不多花光了所有的储蓄，现在就剩下刚刚够付12月份的贷款的钱了，在那以后，我要是再找不到工作，真就不知道该怎么办了。”
Ron Blackwell, chief economist for the U.S. trade federation AFL-CIO, and economics professor Robert Pollin of the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, warned of recession and its impact on the U.S. economy:
美国劳联产联的首席经济学家布莱克威尔、以及麻萨诸塞州立大学Amherst分校的经济学教授波林也出席了这次听证会，并且都警告说会出现衰退，他们谈到衰退对经济的影响。
"BLACKWELL: In my judgment we are clearly in the early stages of a potentially very serious recession, that will likely be as deep as anything we have experienced in a generation, last longer than most, and one which is rapidly becoming global in scope.
布莱克威尔说：“在我看来，很清楚，我们目前处于可能是非常严重的经济衰退时期的早期阶段。这次经济衰退很可能是20多年来最严重的，持续的时间会很长，而且正在迅速地遍及全球。”
POLLIN: It is imperative to take action now to combat what is quickly metastasizing into a general economic crisis off of the financial crisis, that is a general crisis with respect to jobs, private business."
波林教授说：“现在必须立即采取措施，来应对由金融危机引发的总体经济危机，这是牵扯到就业问题、牵扯到私营企业运转的总体性危机。”
President Bush has invited leaders of wealthy nations and the heads of major developing economies to a summit next month that will focus on the global financial crisis.
另一方面，美国总统布什邀请了发达国家和主要发展中国家的领导人下个月到华盛顿，就全球金融危机，召开多国首脑会议。 |