Ottawa — Canada maintained its lacklustre 11th-place ranking for economic performance among the world's 17 richest countries in

2008, neither gaining nor losing ground in hard times, according to a report card issued Monday by the Conference Board.

lacklustre : (American spelling: lackluster, = dull) 無光澤的 ranking : 排名, 順序 losing ground : 節節敗退

The Conference Board said Canada suffered rising unemployment, falling income per capita, slowing gross domestic product growth

and declining labour productivity in 2008. The Conference Board : 世界大型企業聯合會

per capita : 按人計算的(地),人均的(地) gross domestic product : GDP, 國內生產總值 abour productivity : 勞動生產率

But its relative performance did not change because other countries were hit even harder by the global economic crisis.

“Since the Conference Board began international benchmarking in 1996, there has never been a year where the relative rankings

changed so dramatically,” said chief economist Glen Hodgson. benchmark : 基準評價 (企業將自己和表現最優秀的企業相比較, 以改進本企業經營業績)

“Some of Canada's peers suffered stunning reversals in 2008 - notably Ireland, which fell to last place” from the No. 1 rank the

previous year. stunning : 令人震驚的 reversal : 逆轉 notably : 尤其

The Irish economy, which contracted by 2.7 per cent, is reeling from a meltdown in its domestic property market and construction sector.

reel : 眩暈;震顫 meltdown : 崩潰，它本來是核反應堆核心熔毀的意思

Norway, with a per capita income of $9,200 (U.S.) more than Canada, took the top spot in the 2008 rankings, up from third place in 2007.

Canada, with a “B” grade on its performance, “remains near the back of the class among its peer countries,” the Conference Board said.

“We cannot take for granted that Canada will come through the recession better than its peers,” it said, adding that Canada is still

lagging on key indicators of sustainable economic growth.“” lag : 落後 sustainable : 能維持的