VOA慢速英语2010年-Economics Report - Brighter Time for S

The season for buying Christmas gifts is the busiest time for most stores and online retailers² in the United States. Final numbers for the holiday season including after-Christmas sales will not be known for a while. But a report this week on retail¹ sales in November suggested that economic growth may be gaining speed.

The Commerce Department said sales increased for the fifth month in a row. They grew by eight-tenths of one percent over October.

But Tuesday's report came the same day the central bank said the economy is not growing fast enough to reduce unemployment.

So, policy makers³ at the Federal Reserve voted to continue a program of buying government bonds. That program, launched in November, could inject six hundred billion dollars into the economy.

The aim is to increase economic growth by lowering long-term interest rates. That would reduce borrowing costs for businesses and individuals.

But long-term rates have risen since the Fed launched its latest program of so-called quantitative⁴ easing, known as "QE2."

Shoppers walk in front of a bus with a huge clothing advertisement on Black Friday. The Friday after the Thanksgiving holiday is one of the biggest shopping days of the year

The rates are up in part because investors⁵ are concerned about government policies. But experts say investors may also be more hopeful about the economy and looking for investments with higher returns than Treasury⁶ securities.

One way to get a sense of how Americans feel about the economy is through retail sales. Consumer demand drives about seventy percent of the nation's economic activity.

The National Retail Federation⁷ says its members employ twenty-five million people in the retail and services industry. Those businesses reported almost two and a half trillion dollars in sales last year.

Terry Lundgren is chief executive of Macy's, the company that owns Macy’s and Bloomingdales department stores.

TERRY LUNDGREN: "Retail and restaurants represent one in five jobs in America. So if we do well, we grow, than we’re going to be the ones that will start to lead us into a recovery and out of the difficulty that we've had in terms of job hiring, unemployment and all of those challenging issues that relate to that."

The Monday after Thanksgiving is a big day for Internet shopping. Online sales during Cyber Monday have grown since the day got its name in 2005.

The kinds of stores where sales are up also says something about the economy. Stores with the lowest prices do well in hard economic times. But the retail federation said at the end of November that discounters had fewer shoppers this year. Stores that sell jewelry⁸ and other higher-priced items have seen sales grow.

Another change: Americans are less willing to buy on credit. Over forty percent of holiday shoppers said they planned to mainly use debit⁹ cards instead of credit cards. Instead of borrowing money, debit cards take money directly from a bank account.

And that's the VOA Special English Economics Report, written by Mario Ritter and Mil Arcega. I’m Steve Ember.

1 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。

2 retailers   

零售商，零售店( retailer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• High street retailers reported a marked increase in sales before Christmas. 商业街的零售商报告说圣诞节前销售量显著提高。
• Retailers have a statutory duty to provide goods suitable for their purpose. 零售商有为他们提供符合要求的货品的法定义务。

3 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 quantitative   

adj.数量的，定量的

参考例句：

• He said it was only a quantitative difference.他说这仅仅是数量上的差别。
• We need to do some quantitative analysis of the drugs.我们对药物要进行定量分析。

5 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

6 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

7 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

8 jewelry   

n.（jewllery）（总称）珠宝

参考例句：

• The burglars walked off with all my jewelry.夜盗偷走了我的全部珠宝。
• Jewelry and lace are mostly feminine belongings.珠宝和花边多数是女性用品。

9 debit   

n.借方，借项，记人借方的款项

参考例句：

• To whom shall I debit this sum?此款应记入谁的账户的借方？
• We undercharge Mr.Smith and have to send him a debit note for the extra amount.我们少收了史密斯先生的钱，只得给他寄去一张借条所要欠款。