珍妮特·耶伦：美国经济还有待提高

　　Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen thinks the economy is improving ... but that it should be doing much better.

　　美联储主席珍妮特·耶伦认为，美国经济虽然正在复苏，但并不明显，有待提高。

　　In a speech Friday afternoon in San Francisco, Yellen was more blunt than usual in her assessment of the economy。

　　周五，在旧金山的演讲中，珍妮特·耶伦比以前更加直白的表达了对当前经济形势的评价。

　　"If underlying conditions had truly returned to normal, the economy should be booming," she said。

　　她说道：“如果当前形势下经济能真正回归正常，发展应该更加繁荣。”

　　Her more sobering tone will likely please Wall Street. Investors are anxious about the Fed raising interest rates later this year for the first time in about a decade。

　　她更加发人深省的语气可能会使华尔街高兴。投资者担忧，美联储会在今年晚些时候上调利率，这在近十年来尚属首次。

　　But Yellen continues to strongly hint that the Fed won’t push interest rates significantly higher anytime soon。

　　但耶伦接着强烈暗示美联储近期不会大幅度上调利率。

　　Here are some of her most telling comments Friday:

　　以下是她在周五演讲中最重要的评论：

　　1. The job market needs improvement: Although Yellen said the job market recovery "has been substantial," she added that there is "some way to go" before the economy reached maximum employment。

　　1. 就业市场需要进一步完善：耶伦指出，就业市场在持续恢复中，但同时又指出，要使经济发展促进充分就业还需进一步努力。

　　The unemployment rate is now 5.5%. Yellen said that Fed wants to see it fall to about 5%. She also noted that there are still too many people working part-time jobs and that " wage growth continues to be quite subdued."

　　耶伦表示，当前失业率为5.5%，美联储的目标是将失业率降低至5%以下。还有很多做的是兼职工作，收入增长仍然低迷。

　　2. "Not all sectors of the economy are doing well." Yellen mentioned three specific concerns:

　　2. 部分行业发展受阻。耶伦提到了以下三个具体问题：

　　The strong dollar is hurting exports。

　　美元强势不利于出口。

　　Lower oil prices have led to a pullback in drilling。

　　油价过低不利于勘探业发展。

　　The recovery in housing construction, like wage growth, is "subdued."

　　建筑业恢复困难，收入增长低迷。

　　3. Can the economy thrive without low interest rates? She said the economy is still "quite weak by historical standards" and that the increases in hiring have been achieved mainly due to the Fed’s easy money, or accommodative, monetary policies since the Great Recession ended。

　　3. 利率上升经济能否继续繁荣？她说道，以过往标准来看，当前经济仍然十分脆弱，就业的增长主要依靠美联储的低息贷款，以及经济危机以来所推出的宽松货币政策。

　　The Fed cut interest rates to near zero after the financial crisis to try to jump start a recovery。

　　经济危机后，为提振经济复苏，美联储将降息至接近零利率水平。

　　This might be the most interesting observation ... and some may interpret it as a sign that Yellen realizes the Fed has to keep interest rates pretty low for a long time. Last week, the Fed opened the door to raising rates as early as June, but some now question if that’s too soon。

　　这可能是最引人关注的部分，还有人将其解读为耶伦意识到美联储已经持续了长时间的低息政策。上周，美联储传出消息最早将在六月份上调利息，但有人质疑为时过早。

　　Yellen gets that this recovery is an odd one. It’s been strong for investors, but not for average middle-class Americans struggling to keep up。

　　耶伦认为这次经济复苏不同寻常。对投资者是利好，但对于中产家庭来说却很难度过。

　　The economy is a heck of a lot better now than it was six years ago. But it is definitely not booming。

　　同六年前相比，当前经济要好得多，但决不能算是繁荣发展。