VOA标准英语2010年-White House Sressing Job Creation

The comment follows a disappointing monthly unemployment report that showed continuing job losses in the United States.

Michael Bowman | Washington 10 January 2010

Photo: AP
Nick Rodriguez looks at job listings for tow truck drivers in the New York State Labor¹ Department's Division of Employment Services in Brooklyn, New York, 06 Jan 2010

 A White House economic advisor² says there is an "overwhelming" need to do more to spur U.S. job creation and solidify³ a fragile economic recovery.  The comment follows a disappointing monthly unemployment report that showed continuing job losses in the United States.

Less than a year after President Barack Obama signed into law the biggest economic stimulus⁴ package in U.S. history, the head of his Council of Economic Advisers⁵ says additional measures are needed.

"The sense that we need to do more is overwhelming," Christina Romer said on ABC's This Week program.  She said key elements of last year's $787-billion stimulus package - like unemployment benefits and aid to state governments - should be extended.

But Romer also called for new measures like tax incentives⁶ for businesses to hire new workers and cash rebates⁷ for people who make their homes more energy efficient.

Friday, the U.S. Labor Department reported a net 85,000 job loss in the United States last month, with unemployment holding steady at 10 percent.  The numbers were a disappointment to economists⁸ who had held out hope that December might have recorded the first net job gains seen in the United States in nearly two years.

"It was somewhat of a setback," said the economic advisor.

Romer added that mild job losses and a stable unemployment rate are an improvement over the situation that existed a year ago, when hundreds of thousands of jobs were being lost each month and the unemployment rate was soaring.

"In the first quarter of 2009 when we [the Obama administration] first came in, we were losing on average 691,000 jobs a month.  The job losses are moderating."

But Republicans say it is time for President Obama to make good on his promise to actually improve America's economic conditions, rather than slowing the rate of decline.  Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele spoke⁹ on Fox News Sunday.

"What are we about to celebrate as we go into the one-year anniversary of this [Obama] administration?  We have no jobs, no health care [reform], $13-trillion worth of debt, and no sense of direction in how we are going to create those jobs," he said.

Last month, the Democratically-controlled House of Representatives passed a second stimulus bill aimed at jump-starting U.S. employment.  The Senate is expected to consider the measure in coming weeks.  Top economic voices in the Obama administration applaud the initiative, but add that, ultimately, America's private sector¹⁰ must lead the way in job creation and economic expansion.

The consensus¹¹ view among economists is that the U.S. unemployment rate will gradually decline in coming months as the economy rebounds¹² from the worst recession since World War II.  But some well-known economists are considerably¹³ more pessimistic, arguing that unemployment could rise further and the United States could slip back into recession by year's end. 

1 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。

2 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。

3 solidify   

v.(使)凝固，(使)固化，(使)团结

参考例句：

• Opinion on this question began to solidify.对这个问题的意见开始具体化了。
• Water will solidify into ice if you freeze it.水冷冻会结冰。

4 stimulus   

n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物

参考例句：

• Regard each failure as a stimulus to further efforts.把每次失利看成对进一步努力的激励。
• Light is a stimulus to growth in plants.光是促进植物生长的一个因素。

5 advisers   

顾问，劝告者( adviser的名词复数 )； （指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• a member of the President's favoured circle of advisers 总统宠爱的顾问班子中的一员
• She withdrew to confer with her advisers before announcing a decision. 她先去请教顾问然后再宣布决定。

6 incentives   

激励某人做某事的事物( incentive的名词复数 )； 刺激； 诱因； 动机

参考例句：

• tax incentives to encourage savings 鼓励储蓄的税收措施
• Furthermore, subsidies provide incentives only for investments in equipment. 更有甚者，提供津贴仅是为鼓励增添设备的投资。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

7 rebates   

n.退还款( rebate的名词复数 )；回扣；返还（退还的部份货价）；折扣

参考例句：

• The VAT system offers advantages, such as rebates on exports. 增值税有其优点，如对出口商品实行回扣。 来自辞典例句
• In more recent years rate rebates have been introduced for households. 近年地方税的减免已适用于家庭。 来自辞典例句

8 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》

9 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

10 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。

11 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？

12 rebounds   

反弹球( rebound的名词复数 )； 回弹球； 抢断篮板球； 复兴

参考例句：

• V is the velocity after the gas particle rebounds from the wall. V是粒子从壁上弹开后的速度。
• In the former case, the first body rebounds with practically its original velocity. 在前一种情况下，第一个物体实际上以原来的速度弹回。

13 considerably   

adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上

参考例句：

• The economic situation has changed considerably.经济形势已发生了相当大的变化。
• The gap has narrowed considerably.分歧大大缩小了。