这里是美国之音慢速英语经济报道。
The head of the U.S. central bank has told Congress that the economy is improving after very slow growth in the first three-month of the year. U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's report came soon after the government announced April's employment numbers. They showed the biggest monthly gain in two years.
美国央行负责人对国会表示，在今年一季度的缓慢增长之后，美国经济开始改善。美国联邦储备委员会主席珍妮特·耶伦（Janet Yellen）的报告是在政府公布四月份就业数据不久后出台。该数据显示了两年来最大的单月增长。（51VOA注：美国央行即美联储。）
"Looking ahead, I expect that economic activity will expand at a somewhat faster pace this year than it did last year, that the unemployment rate will continue to decline gradually, and that inflation will begin to move up toward two percent," said Yellen.
耶伦说：“展望未来，我预计今年的经济活动和去年相比将出现更快的扩张，失业率将继续逐步下降，通货膨胀将开始上行达到2%。”
However, the central bank chief remained concerned about employment and international tensions. She said the threat of conflict in other countries, and intensifying financial problems in some developing countries could hurt the world economy.
然而，耶伦对就业和国际紧张局势仍然担忧。她说，其它国家冲突的威胁，以及发展中国家财政问题加剧会伤害世界经济。
"Currently one prominent risk is that adverse developments abroad, such as heightened geopolitical tensions or an intensification of financial stresses in emerging market economies could undermine confidence in the global economic recovery," said Yellen.
耶伦说：“当前一个突出风险是国外因素的不利发展有可能破坏全球经济复苏的信心，例如地缘政治紧张局势升级，以及新兴经济体金融压力加剧。”
The Federal Reserve, or Fed for short, has been cutting back its efforts to support the economy. The Fed has reduced or tapered its government bond buying activities. They went from $85 billion five months ago to about $45 billion now.
美联储一直在削减其经济支持力度。它已经减少了购买政府债券的活动，由5月前的每月850亿美元降到目前的450亿美元。
Bond buying by the central bank puts more money into the economy. And it has helped keep interest rates near historically low levels. This program called "quantitative easing" is set to end in the last three-month of this year. But Janet Yellen said borrowing rates would remain low for, in her words, a "considerable amount of time".
美国央行购买债券向经济注入更多资金。它帮助利率维持在历史最低水平。这个项目被称为“量化宽松”，它定于今年最后一个季度结束。但耶伦表示，借贷利率在相当长时间内将继续维持低位。
Earlier, the U.S. Labor Department said the economy added 288,000 jobs in April. That brought the unemployment rate to its lowest level in five years. The employment news balances the Commerce Department's announcement that economic growth was very slow in the first three-month of the year, the economy grew at a rate of one-tenth of one percent.
美国劳工部此前表示，今年四月美国经济增加了28.8万个工作岗位。它使得失业率降到五年来的最低水平。这一就业新闻抵消了美国商务部公告的影响，该公告称今年首季度美国经济增长非常缓慢，经济增长速度是0.1%。
Experts blamed an unusually cold winter for hurting demand. However, economists say job gains were better than expected. But others are concerned about the quality of jobs.
专家将需求受损归咎于去年冬天异常寒冷。然而经济学家表示，就业增长好于预期。但也有人担心就业质量。
Mark Hamrick of Bankrate.com says the jobs are not pushing up hourly wages. He says that the building, professional services and healthcare industries added jobs, but income gains were disappointing.
Bankrate网的马克·哈姆里克表示，这些就业岗位未能推高时薪。他说，建筑、专业服务和医疗保健行业增加了就业岗位，但收入增长令人失望。
And that's the VOA Learning English Economics Report. Find more of our programs at 51voa.com. I'm Mario Ritter.
以上就是美国之音慢速英语经济报道的全部内容，更多节目请访问51voa.com。我是马里奥·理特（Mario Ritter）。(51VOA.COM对本文翻译保留全部权利，未经授权请勿转载，违者必究！)