美國求職者盼總統國會幫助改善就業

Job hunters around the United States are struggling to keep up their spirits as they look for work, despite the poor economy. Many watched President Barack Obama's Thursday speech to a joint session of Congress.

美國各地的求職者在尋找工作時都在努力打起精神，儘管經濟不景氣。很多人觀看了總統奧巴馬週四在國會聯席會議上的講話。

With a national unemployment rate of over 9 percent, young people face tough competition.

由於全國的失業率超過9%，年輕人面臨着嚴峻的競爭。

At California State University, Los Angeles, senior student Kristine Chan is keeping her eye on the job market. “I can tell there are jobs out there. I think that students, we’re not prepared enough for it,” she said.

在加利福尼亞州立大學洛杉磯分校，大四學生克里斯汀.陳密切關注着就業市場。她說：“我可以確信工作是有的。我認爲，我們學生還沒有充分準備好能勝任工作。”

Chan is studying criminal justice and psychology, and has interned at social agencies as part of a job-hunting strategy.

克里斯汀.陳在學習刑事司法和心理學，她在社會機構實習過，作爲求職的一個策略。

Senior student Tien Cheng is studying information technology and accounting, and says his job search is frustrating. “Sometimes I’m not even sure what should I do in this moment, so I try to look for some internship, or some sort of part time job right now, anything," he stated.

大四學生程天學習的是信息技術和會計專業。他說他的求職是令人沮喪的。他說：“有時候，我甚至不確定我在這一刻應該做什麼，所以我試着找一些實習，或者某種兼職工作，幹什麼都行。”

Wall Street is in a slump and the economy is down across the board. But there are still openings, says Christopher Lenz of the Cal State Los Angeles Career Development Center.

華爾街低迷不振，整個經濟不景氣。不過，加州州立大學洛杉磯分校職業發展中心的克里斯托弗.蘭茲說，職位空缺還是有的。

“People leave jobs, they get promotions, they move away. So there’s always some turnover, there are always new openings, so it’s just a matter of hanging in there and keeping at it,” Lenz stated.

“有些人離開工作崗位，有些人獲得提升，有些人搬家遷移，所以總是有一些機會的，總是有新的空缺，所以它只是一個持續尋找、不斷求索的問題。”

A non-profit organization called Operation Hope runs a cyber café in South Los Angeles, a largely minority neighborhood, where unemployed workers can search online for jobs.

一個叫作希望行動的非盈利組織經營着一家網吧，地點在南洛杉磯。那裏是少數民族爲主的居民區，失業工人可以在網上搜索工作。Unemployed radio disk jockey Rodd Amos, at 50 years old, takes a systematic approach.

失業的電臺音樂播放員羅德.阿莫斯今年50歲，他採用一個系統化的方法。

“Item number one: checking email to see if anyone has responded to my online applications," he explained. "Item number two is create emails to people that I want to talk to.”

他說：“第一項：檢查電子郵件，看看是否已經有人迴應我的在線申請。第二項：給我想與之交談的人們寫電子郵件。”

He is looking for jobs in customer service or other fields outside of radio.

他正在尋找客戶服務方面的工作，或者電臺以外的其他領域的工作。

Job hunters hope that Washington can help. Rodd Amos hopes so too, but doesn’t count on it. “Because we cannot rely on the White House. It really comes down to us,” Amos said.

求職者希望華盛頓能夠幫助他們。羅德.阿莫斯也希望如此，但並不指望它。他說：“因爲我們不能依靠白宮。真正的還要靠我們自己。”

Adrian Dustin Munoz says, for him, the pressure is off after a phone call he got this week. The 25-year-old has been offered an entry-level job in the film industry. “At least for now, I don’t have to worry so much," he said. "I just have to show up to work and make sure I do well.”

阿德里安.達斯汀.穆尼奧斯說，對他來說，這個星期他接到一個電話以後，壓力消失了。這個25歲的年輕人在電影業得到了一個入門級別的工作。他說：“至少現在，我不必擔心這麼多了，我只需要上班，並確保我幹得好。”

Others, not so lucky, are doing their best to find work in a difficult job market.

沒有那麼幸運的其他人則竭盡全力，在舉步維艱的就業市場上尋找工作。