“Whenmoreandmorepeoplearethrownoutofwork,unemploymentresults,”CalvinCoolidgeonceobserved.AstheU.S.economycrumbles,Coolidge’ssillymaximmightappeartobeasaptasever:thenumberofunemploymentinsuranceclaimsisrising,andoveralljoblessnessiscreepingupward.Butintoday’svastandcomplexlabormarket,thingsaren’talwayswhattheyseem.Moreandmorepeopleareindeedlosingtheirjobsbutnotnecessarilybecausetheeconomyappearstobeinrecession.Andold-fashionedunemploymentisn’ttheinevitableresultofjobloss.Newwork,atlesspay,oftenis. Callitnew-waveunemployment:structuralchangesintheeconomyareoverlappingthebusinessdownturn,givingjoblessnessagrimnewtwist.SmallwonderthattheU.S.unemploymentrateisrising.Nowat5.7percent,itiswidelyexpectedtoedgetoward7percentbytheendofnextyear.Butstatisticsalonecan’tfullycaptureacomplexreality.Theunemploymentratehasbeenhelddownbyslowgrowthinthelaborforce—thenumberofpeopleworkingorlookingforwork—sincefewpeoplesenseattractivejobopportunitiesinaweakeconomy.Inaddition,manymorepeoplearelosingtheirjobsthanareactuallyendingupunemployed.Facedwithhungrymouthstofeed,thousandsofwomen,forexample,aretakingtwoormorepart-timepositionsoragreeingtoshavethehourstheyworkinservice-sectorjobs.Forbetterandforworse,workinAmericaclearlyisn’twhatitusedtobe.Nowunemploymentisn’t,either. Likesouroldwineinnewbottles,thisdownturnblendsalittleoftheoldandthenewreflectingadecade’sworthofchangeinthedynamicU.S.economy.Yet,inmanyrespectsthedeclineisfollowingtheclassicpattern,withnewlayoffsconcentratedamongblue-collarworkersinthemost“cyclical”industries,whoseupsanddownstracktheeconomymostclosely. Asthedownturnattractsattentiononworkers’illfortunes,someanalystspredictthatpoliticalupheavalmaylieahead.RealwagesfortheaverageU.S.workerpeakedin1973andhavebeenfallingalmosteversince.Asaresult,agrowinggroupofdownwardlymobileAmericanscouldsoonbeginpressingpolicymakerstohelpproducebetter-payingjobs.Justhowloudtheoutcrybecomeswilldependpartlyonthecourseoftherecession.Butinthelongrun,there’slittledoubtthatthebleakoutlookforjobsandjoblessnessis“politically,sociallyandpsychologicallydynamite”. WhydoestheauthorrefertoCoolidge’smaximassilly?
A.More and more people are applying for unemployment insurance. B.Unemployment rate is not likely to rise quickly nowadays. C.Losing jobs doesn’t necessarily lead to unemployment. D.Today’s labor market is much too complicated than Coolidge’s time.正确答案D
