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Which of the following was on the rise in April

A:New claims for jobless benefits. B:The number of workers laid off. C:The number of people living on jobless benefits. D:The number of people finding new jobs.

New claims for unemployment insurance dipped last week, suggesting that companies are laying off fewer workers as the budding economic recovery unfolds. The Labor Department reported on Thursday that for the work week ending April 27, new claims for jobless benefits went down by a seasonally adjusted 10,000 to 418,000, the lowest level since March 23．In another report, orders to U. S. factories rose for the fourth straight month, a solid 0.4 percent rise in March. The figure was largely boosted by stronger demand for unendurable goods, such as food, clothes, paper products and chemicals. Total unendurable goods were up 1.6 percent in March, the biggest increase in two years. Orders also rose for some manufactured goods, including metals, construction machinery, household appliances and defense equipment. The report reinforces the view that the nation’s manufacturers-which sharply cut production and saw hundreds of thousands of jobs evaporate during the recession-are on the comeback trail. Stocks were rising again on Thursday. In the first half-four of trading, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 43 points and the Nasdaq index was up 14 points.
In the jobless-claims report, even with the decline, a government analyst said, the level was inflated as a result of a technical fluke. The distortion is coming from a requirement that laid-off workers seeking to take advantage of a federal extension for benefits must summit new claims. Congress recently passed legislation signed into law by President Bush that provided a 13-week extension of jobless benefits.
The fluck has clouded the layoffs picture for several weeks. But the government analyst said the refilling requirement is having much less of an effect on the claims numbers than in previous weeks. The more stable four-week moving average of new claims, which smoothes out weekly fluctuation, also fell last week to 435750, the lowest level since the beginning of April. But the number of workers continuing to receive unemployment benefits rose to 3.8 million for the work week ending April 20, evidence that people who are out of work are having trouble finding new jobs.
Economists predict that job growth won’t be strong enough in the coming months to prevent the nation’s unemployment rate-now at 5.7 percent-from rising. Many economists are forecasting a rise in April’s jobless rate to 5.8 percent and estimating that businesses added around 55,000 jobs during the month. The government will release the April employment report on Friday. Even as the economy bounces back from recession, some economists expect the jobless rate will peak to just over 6 percent by June. That is because companies will be reluctant to quickly hire back laid-off workers until they are assured the recovery is here to stay. Given the fledging rebound, many economists expect the Federal Reserve to leave short-term interest rates-now at 40-year lows-unchanged when it meets on May 7．The Fed adjusted interest rates 11 times in a row last year to rescue the economy from recession, which began in May 2001.

Which of the following was on the rise in April（）

A:New claims for jobless benefits B:The number of workers laid off C:The number of people living on jobless benefits D:The number of people finding new jobs

Tom (laid) on the (floor), (reading) a (book).

A:laid B:floor C:reading D:book

China’s employment and re-employment situation remains tough with a surge this year in the number of graduates hitting the job market and in unemployment in general, senior official said.
The country’s registered average unemployment rate in urban areas reached 4 percent last year and is expected to go higher this year, Labour and Social Security Minister Zhen Silin told Xinhua yesterday.
There are nearly 14 million laid-off workers in urban areas so far. And more than 11 million new graduates are predicted to enter the work force, Zheng said.
To make things worse, the nation’s agricultural adjustment has forced more than 151 million rural workers to quit farming. Many of them will head to the cities to seek employment, posing uncertainties for the State, he said.
Zheng, who was appointed as the minister during the first session of the 10th Nation al People’s Congress in March, has urged his departments nationwide to do more to assist laid-off workers to restart their lives.

What is the most appropriate title for this passage about China's employment'（）

A:Tough Year for Job Seekers. B:College Graduates Challenged by Employment. C:Too Many Workers Laid Off This Year. D:Minister Is Hopeful of Employment Prospectiv

China’s employment and re-employment situation remains tough with a surge this year in the number of graduates hitting the job market and in unemployment in general, senior official said.
The country’s registered average unemployment rate in urban areas reached 4 percent last year and is expected to go higher this year, Labour and Social Security Minister Zhen Silin told Xinhua yesterday.
There are nearly 14 million laid-off workers in urban areas so far. And more than 11 million new graduates are predicted to enter the work force, Zheng said.
To make things worse, the nation’s agricultural adjustment has forced more than 151 million rural workers to quit farming. Many of them will head to the cities to seek employment, posing uncertainties for the State, he said.
Zheng, who was appointed as the minister during the first session of the 10th Nation al People’s Congress in March, has urged his departments nationwide to do more to assist laid-off workers to restart their lives.

Which of the following people are posing greater uncertainties for the State（）

A:Laid-off workers. B:New graduates. C:Rural workers. D:All of these peopl

Tom (laid) on the (floor), (reading) a (book).

A:laid B:floor C:reading D:book

After Susan Joyce was laid off from Digital Equipment Corp. , she was horrified to hear of two suicides in her layoff group. Then she learned about a colleague who stabbed his wife to death and hung himself. "I worked with him for 10 years, maybe more," says Joyce. "He seemed like a nice guy.
These cases may sound extreme, but being fired or laid off is undeniably one of life’ s biggest blows and can lead to clinical depression, violence and alcohol abuse, as well as strokes and heart attacks. Even the fear of losing a job produces more doctor visits and health worries. In short, the recent news about rising unemployment and job insecurity may be bad news for our health.
Layoffs create a sense of hopelessness. Stress - related complaints such as insomnia and headaches tend to follow, lingering even after victims find new jobs, says University of Michigan psychologist Richard Price, who tracked more than 700 layoff victims for two years. Research based on 17 years of Pennsylvania unemployment records concluded that employees affected by a mass layoff at a plant were 15 percent more likely to die of any cause over the next two decades. Experts blame the cascade (大量倾泻) of misfortune that often follows after a layoff, including the loss of health insurance.
Your health can suffer simply from fear of losing your job, says Sarah Burgard, a sociologist at the University of Michigan. After crunching data from two large national surveys, she concluded that chronic job insecurity over a two - year period rivals the anxiety of a job loss or a major illness. Burgard adjusted her data for what psychologists call "neuroticism" and found that even people who aren’ t typically worriers report worse health when they believe their jobs are in danger. Fears of poor job prospects may have similar consequences. When Swedish researchers asked 21 - year - olds about their health during a recession, they reported more problems than a comparison group during a boom.
Economic stress may even show up in national public -health measures, although experts disagree about how to calculate those effects. Harvey Brenner, professor emeritus ([大学教师]退休后仍保留头衔的，荣誉退休的) at Johns Hopkins’s Bloomberg School of Public Health and a professor of public health at the University of North Texas, argues that the 1 percentage point increase in unemployment since a year ago could have serious health repercussions (持续影响，反响) for the next two years. According to Brenner’ s projections, there could be as many as 47,000 more deaths than would have otherwise occurred, including 1,200 more suicides, as well as nearly 26,000 more heart attacks. Should unemployment continue to rise, these numbers are likely to increase too, he says.
Which of the following statements about layoffs is true according to the passage

A:Being laid off is the biggest blow in one’ s life. B:Layoffs create many health problems such as strokes and heart attacks. C:Layoffs will stop affect once new jobs are found. D:Being laid off is often the result of job insecurity.