Initial jobless claims are up. What does that mean? Why does it matter?

首次申请失业救济人数上升。这意味着什么？为什么重要？

We start today with some not so good news about the U.S. economy. Initial jobless claims are up.

我们首先要报道一些关于美国经济不太好的新闻。首次申请失业救济的人数上升。

The Labor Department says initial jobless claims have dropped.

美国劳工部表示，首次申请失业救济的人数有所下降。

First the good. The Labor Department says initial jobless claims have dropped.

首先来看好消息。美国劳工部表示，首次申请失业救济金人数有所下降。

And initial jobless claims counts those who request these benefits for the first time.

首次申请失业救济人数统计的是首次申请这些救济者的数量。

The government said the initial jobless claim fell by 2000 with seasonal adjustment of 312,000.

政府数据显示，初次申领失业救济人数下降2000人，经季节性调整后为31.2万人。

The U.S. Department of Labor says last week initial jobless claims spiked to 3.28 million.

美国劳工部表示，上周首次申请失业救济金的人数激增328万。

And this is the first time that initial jobless claims have ever increased by 3.28 million.

而首次申请失业救济人数增加至328万创下了历史新高。

Around 900,000 workers filed for initial jobless claims last week, the U.S. Department of Labor said Thursday.

美国劳工部周四表示，上周约有90万名工人申请首次失业救济。

Today's figure, which measures the number of initial jobless claims in the fourth week of March, is a new record, 6.6 million people.

而今天的数字——在3月份的第四个星期，初次申领失业金的人数创下了660万的新纪录。

It's a major indication of how the U.S. economy is doing and this is the first time that initial jobless claims have ever increased by 3.28 million.

该数据是反映美国经济状况的主要指数，而申请失业救济金的人数一下增加328万的情况尚属首次。

Well, it's a lower number than many economists expected and it's the lowest number of initial jobless claims since the coronavirus pandemic struck the U.S. economy in March.

是这样的，这个数字低于许多经济学家的预期，也是自3月冠状病毒大流行打击美国经济以来的最低数字。

But there's a catch: the information for that survey is only as recent as the middle of March, and that's before records started being broken for initial jobless claims.

该报告的信息最多只（更新）到3月中旬，而在此之前，初次申请失业救济的人数记录也已被打破。

Labor Department says initial jobless claims last week fell by 23,000 to 298,000, that’s a nearly six-year low.

劳工部表示，上周初请失业金人数减少 23,000 人至 298,000 人，创近六年来新低。

The number was around 200,000 each week before the pandemic hit but because initial jobless claims have been decreasing weekly since late March, economists say that's a sign the employment picture isn't getting worse.

在大流行爆发前，这个数字大约为每周20万。但因为自3月下旬以来初次申请失业金的人数一直在减少，经济学家称这表明就业状况并没有恶化。

If they meet the requirements for getting help, the government will pay part of their income for a limited amount of time and initial jobless claims counts those who request these benefits for the first time.

如果他们符合申请要求，政府会在一定时间内补贴给他们部分开支，首次申请失业救济金说的是他们第一次申请这些补贴。