This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.
这里是美国之音慢速英语经济报道。
Businesses are still slow to hire and unemployment remains near ten percent. But an economic research group reported this week that the recession in the United States ended in June of last year.
企业招聘仍旧迟缓，失业率仍然保持在接近10%。但是，一个经济研究组织本周报道称，美国经济衰退于去年6月结束。
It was the longest since the nineteen thirties.
本轮经济衰退是自19世纪30年代以来历时最长的一次。
James Stock is on the committee that dates the rises and falls of the business cycle for the National Bureau of Economic Research. The Harvard professor says this recession was in some ways a lot like others since World War Two.
詹姆斯·斯托克（James Stock）就职于美国国家经济研究局（National Bureau of Economic Research）商业周期测定委员会，这位哈佛大学教授表示，这次经济经济衰退在某些方面与二战以来其他的经济衰退极为相似。
JAMES STOCK: "I think what I've been struck by is how these numbers basically look like all the other recessions we've had in the postwar period."
斯托克：“让我感到奇怪的就是，这些数字和战后时期我们经历的所有其他经济衰退基本上一样。”
But one difference was the length -- eighteen months. Many recessions since the nineteen forties lasted less than a year.
但是，其中一个不同点是持续时间——18个月。自19世纪40年代以来，大部分经济衰退都持续不到一年时间。
Another difference was the severity. The economy shrank by more than four percent. About eight million people lost their jobs.
另一个不同点是严重程度。经济缩减超过4%，大约有800万人失业。
Professor Stock thinks job growth is likely to increase in the coming months based on current levels of productivity.
斯托克教授认为，基于现有生产率的水平，在未来几个月就业率有可能会增长。
JAMES STOCK: "I think that we are at a point right now where productivity has increased so much that for output to continue to grow, we will be seeing increases in hiring."
斯托克：“我认为，我们现在正处于生产率大幅提高，产量持续增长的阶段，我们即将会看到就业率的增长。”
Some economic signs have improved. Manufacturing, industrial production and consumer spending have made small gains. But a Labor Department report shows that new claims for unemployment insurance rose unexpectedly last week.
一些经济迹象有所改善，制造业，工业生产和消费者支出都有小幅上涨。但是劳工部一项报告显示，上周新申请失业保险人数出乎意料地有所增加。
On Monday, President Obama took questions at a meeting shown on CNBC television. One questioner wondered if today's young Americans still could hope for a good life.
周一，奥巴马在CNBC电视台（全称是 Consumer News and Business Channel 消费者新闻与商业频道）播出的一次节目上回答提问。一位提问者质疑美国当今的年轻人是否依旧可以期望过好日子。
QUESTIONER: "What I'm really hoping to hear from you is several concrete steps that you're going to take moving forward that will be able to re-ignite my generation, re-ignite the youth who are beset by student loans. And I really want to know, is the American Dream dead for me?"
提问者：“我非常希望听到，你将采取的能够激励我们这一代被学生贷款困扰的年轻人的具体举措。而且，我非常想知道，对我们来说，美国梦破灭了吗？”
BARRACK OBAMA: "Absolutely not. Look, we still have the best universities in the world. We've got the most dynamic private sector in the world. We've got the most productive workers in the world. There is not a country in the world that would not want to change places with us."
奥巴马：“当然没有。你看，我们仍然有全球最好的大学，有全球最具活力的私营机构，有全球生产率最高的工人。世界上每个国家都想和我们交换位置。”
But the economy could change the balance of power in Congress in the November elections.
但是，经济能够在11月中期选举中改变国会权力平衡。
Critics say the president's economic stimulus programs have only put the country deeper in debt. Economists disagree about the extent to which the spending has helped. But many agree that the president's policies avoided a worse situation.
批判者称总统的经济刺激政策只能使国家深陷债务，经济学家不赞同消费在某种程度上对经济复苏有所帮助。但是，很多人认为总统政策避免了更糟糕的状况。
Or, as Mr. Obama put it at the United Nations on Thursday: "The global economy has been pulled back from the brink of a depression."
正如奥巴马周二在联合国说的那样：“全球经济已经从萧条的边缘被拉回来了。”
In Washington, central bank policy makers said inflation remains low. In fact, they said it may be too low to support their aims for price and wage stability.
在华盛顿，央行政策制定者称通货膨胀仍然很低。事实上他们认为，通货膨胀太低而无法支持其工资和物价稳定的目标。
And, Lawrence Summers, director of the president's National Economic Council, said he will leave at the end of the year to return to Harvard University.
美国国家经济委员会（National Economic Council）主任劳伦斯．萨默斯（Lawrence Summers）称，他将于年底离任，回到哈佛大学。