worrisome : 令人煩惱的

Washington — Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said he's “concerned” about rising unemployment rates around the world, although

he stopped short of saying there's anything more governments can do to reverse the deterioration of the labour market at this time.

stop short of (doing something) : 決定不做某事. 但做類似的其他事(此即: 說出關心失業率上升, 但不想說政府可以做什麼來阻止惡化) deterioration : 惡化

The subject is a point of discussion at a meeting of finance ministers from North, Central and South America Friday in Vina del Mar, Chile.

point : 要點

Those countries, led by the United States and Canada, have collectively poured billions into infrastructure projects and

other programs in an effort to replace the hundreds of thousands of jobs that have vanished as a result of the financial crisis.

collectively : 一起地, 全體地 infrastructure : 基礎建設(如鐵路、公路、下水道等) vanish : 突然不見

So far, the government spending has achieved meagre results. meagre : 微薄的

Payrolls in the U.S., for example, declined by 467,000 in June, pushing the unemployment rate in the world's largest economy to

9.5 per cent, the highest in almost 26 years. The figures, which were released Thursday, caused stock markets to tumble

on concern the global recession would drag.

payroll : 發薪名單 tumble : 暴跌 drag : 拖延

We're all concerned about it,” Mr. Flaherty said of rising unemployment on a conference call from Chile.

The recovery from recession will happen before the reduction in unemployment.”

conference call : 電話會議

History shows that companies are slow to rehire after an economic downturn

because they wait for signs the rebound is in full force before adding staff.

rehire : 再雇用 economic downturn : 經濟衰退

The risk facing policy makers such as Mr. Flaherty now is that unemployment rates won't fall as quickly as in the past

because most indicators suggest the recovery from this recession will be slow because so much wealth has been lost.

Instead of being primed to spend as growth resumes, consumers in the U.S. and elsewhere are saving to get their lives back in order.

prime : 作準備

Mr. Flaherty said he expects unemployment to rise into 2010 followed by “modest” rebound in hiring over the rest of the year.

“The discussion is more about how strong the recovery will be,” Mr. Flaherty said. “The anticipation is the recovery will be modest.”

His comments reflect the general view of forecasters ranging from the International Monetary Fund to the Organization for Economic

Co-operation and Development that the recession in most of the world's richer countries will bottom out over the second half of 2009.

bottom out : 到達谷底

They expect the climb out to be slow, in part because higher unemployment rates will curb consumer spending.

in part : 在某種程度上;部分地 curb : 抑制

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