Description: This is
a VOA Special English Economics Report.
See text below
Text:
America's economy has started to grow again. Now
what about jobs? The government says productivity
jumped in July, August and September. That meant
companies produced more with fewer workers. Also,
new claims for unemployment aid fell at the end of
October to the lowest number since January. But
eight million jobs have disappeared since the
recession began in December of two thousand seven.
Jack Strauss at Saint Louis University in Missouri
says recent recoveries have been slow to create
jobs. Experts debate the reason for these so-called
jobless recoveries. But Professor Strauss says a
banking crisis is especially hard to recover from,
because there is less money to lend to support
growth. Banks have been holding bigger safety
reserves.
On November fourth, the Federal Reserve kept its
target rate near zero for overnight loans between
banks. The central bank said levels are likely to
remain "exceptionally low ... for an extended
period."
Low interest rates and growing federal deficits have
weakened the dollar. But that also lowers the price
of American exports, which could help drive job
creation. Yet where exactly will future jobs come
from?
Investor Warren Buffet says America's "future
prosperity" depends on its rail system. On November
third, his Berkshire Hathaway company agreed to buy
the nation's second-largest railroad, the Burlington
Northern Santa Fe. The forty-four billion dollar
deal is Berkshire's biggest ever.
The Obama administration is also putting money into
transportation to speed recovery. A program that
paid Americans to buy new vehicles with higher fuel
economy lifted sales for automakers. Ford just
reported a profit of almost a billion dollars for
July through September.
A second government program -- a tax credit for
first-time home buyers -- has helped the housing
market. These two programs fueled a lot of the
recent economic growth.
But economist Jack Strauss says credit conditions
threaten the main engine of job growth since two
thousand one -- small businesses.
In November, CIT, a lender to small and medium sized
businesses, sought bankruptcy protection from its
creditors so it can reorganize. Taxpayers will
likely lose more than two billion dollars in federal
rescue money.
And that's the VOA Special English Economics Report,
available online at voaspecialenglish.com.
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personally reviewed this video and found it appropriate for
the news section of English Global Group. This
is a Voice of America video which covers an interesting
topic in Special English. I would appreciate some feedback from both
students and teachers about this video. You can comment in
the window below using any of a number of different services
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