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Global Economy at Low Ebb Causes American Rate of Unemployment Upswing

游客2024-09-28  13
问题       Global Economy at Low Ebb Causes American Rate of Unemployment Upswing
    For many years, unemployment in the United States was lower than in Western Europe, a fact often cited by people who argued that the flexibility inherent in the American system—it is easier to both hire and fire workers than in many European countries—produced more jobs.
    That is no longer the case. The current economic crisis has turned the case for the US model almost entirely on its head.
    In March, the American unemployment rate stood at 8. 5 percent, the same as the average rate for the first 15 members of the European Union. In April, the rate in the United States rose to 8. 9 percent. When the European figures are compiled, it seems likely that the American rate will be higher for the first time since Eurostat, the European Union’s statistical agency, began publishing unemployment rates in 1993 for the entire European Union and for three countries outside the union, the United States, Japan and Turkey.
    For men, the unemployment rate in the United States surpassed that of the 15 original European union countries in December. By March, it was 9. 5 percent in the United States, compared with just 7. 5 percent for women. The figures for men and women in the 15 European countries, however, are close together, at 8.4 percent and 8.5 percent.
    The March rate for the United States was higher than the rates of 11 of the 15. The exceptions were Portugal, which has the same rate, and Spain, Ireland and France. Eight of the 15 European countries have rates that are lower than three years ago.
    How did that happen during a worldwide recession? First, it appears that the safety nets in many Western European economies made it easier for people to keep their jobs as the economy declined. In Germany, programs allow companies to get government help in paying workers and keeping them employed. If the recession becomes severe enough and long enough, of course, it could turn out that those programs do not so much to avoid the pain as defer it.
    Another factor may be the lack of an economic boom in many European countries, which has left them less vulnerable to recession-related cutbacks.
    There is, and always has been, a large variation in economic performance among Western European countries. Even though workers generally have the right to move between countries in the European Union, doing so presents language and cultural hurdles for many.
    In the United States, there has been more movement of workers from depressed areas to places where the employment outlook is brighter. But the housing crisis appears to be hampering such movement because some workers own homes that are worth far less than the amount they owe on their mortgages. [br] What caused the relatively lower unemployment rates in some Western European countries during the worldwide recession?
选项 A、The safety nets allowing people to keep their jobs more easily in economic slowdown.
B、The employment system that enable people to get jobs more easily.
C、The programs that allow people to avoid being laid off during economic recession.
D、The economic system that is less vulnerable to economic crisis.
答案 A
解析 事实细节题。由题干中的lower unemployment rates in some Western European countries定位到第六段。由第六段第二句First，it appears that the safety nets in many Western European economies made it easier for people to keep their jobs as the economy declined．可知，在经济衰退时，许多欧洲经济体的保障制度让人们可以更容易地保住工作。[A]与文意相符，为正确答案。[B]“让人们可以更容易得到工作的雇用制度”文中并未提及，故排除；C“让人们可以避免在经济衰退时被解雇的项目”，与第六段末句内容“如果经济衰退加剧，持续时间过长，结果可能是这些保障项目只能推迟痛苦的发生而无力避免痛苦的最终到来”不符，故排除；[D]“不易受经济危机影响的经济制度”，文中没有体现，故排除。
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