来源：《华尔街日报》
原文见报日期：2021年6月9日
Businesses nearly everywhere in America say they’re desperate for workers, and the latest statistical evidence is the Labor Department’s Jolts report Tuesday of a record 9.3 million job openings in April. Get the message, Congress?
美国几乎所有地方的企业都表示，他们迫切需要员工，最新的统计证据是美国劳工部周二发布的Jolts报告，报告显示4月份的职位空缺达到创纪录的930万个。明白了吗，国会？
The Jolts survey has never shown more openings since Labor began keeping track in 2000. Job openings increased 998,000 in April, including 391,000 in leisure and hospitality, 108,000 in trade and transportation and 102,000 in manufacturing as more states lifted Covid-19 restrictions. Yet new hires increased by a mere 69,000. Employers filled about one in 15 new positions. Worker shortages are contributing to supply-chain bottlenecks and higher prices for businesses and consumers.
Jolts调查显示，自劳工部2000年开始跟踪调查以来，从未出现过如此多的职位空缺。随着越来越多的州解除疫情限制，4月份新增空缺岗位99.8万个，其中休闲和酒店行业新增39.1万个，贸易和运输行业新增10.8万个，制造业新增10.2万个。然而新雇佣的员工仅仅增加了69,000人。大约每15个新空缺职位中只有一个能被填补。工人短缺导致供应链出现瓶颈，企业和消费者价格上涨。
A Chamber of Commerce survey last week found that 90.5% of companies said a lack of available workers was slowing the economy in their area. The American Hotel & Lodging Association reported that 96% of its respondents had open positions, but most pay less than sitting on the couch collecting enhanced subsidies for not working.
美国商会上周的一项调查发现，90.5%的公司表示，缺乏可用的劳动力正在放缓所在地区的经济。美国酒店与住宿协会报告称，96%的受访企业有空缺职位，但大多数企业的薪酬低于坐在沙发上不工作就能收取的更高的补贴。
The Biden Administration chalks up the slow jobs rebound to lack of child care or fear of Covid. But Covid has been diminishing fast due to vaccines. Far more schools were open in April than in December, so more parents should also be able to return to work.
拜登政府将就业反弹缓慢归因于缺乏儿童保育或对新冠病毒的恐惧。但由于疫苗的出现，疫情已经迅速消退。4月份开学的学校比12月份多很多，因此应该有更多的家长能够重返工作岗位。
Yet hires in April were lower in many industries including retail, manufacturing and construction than they were in December when the $300 federal jobless bonus wasn’t available. Employers have lowered hiring standards and offered signing bonuses. Some are even paying applicants merely to show up for interviews.
然而，包括零售业、制造业和建筑业在内的许多行业4月份的招聘人数都低于12月份，当时没有300美元的联邦失业救济金。雇主们降低了招聘标准，并提供签约奖金。有些企业甚至付钱给求职者只是为了使其参加面试。
Most teenagers don’t qualify for unemployment benefits due to short or nonexistent work histories, but they are profiting from the tight labor market that has employers bidding up wages for low-skilled jobs. Teen unemployment is the lowest since 1953. About 40% of the newly employed workers in April and May were ages 16 to 19.
由于工作时间短或没有工作经历，大多数青少年没有资格领取失业救济金，但他们正从处于用工荒的劳动力市场中获利，雇主们竞相提高低技能工作的工资。青少年失业率是1953年以来的最低水平。在4月和5月新就业的工人中，大约40%的人年龄在16岁到19岁之间。
The labor shortage should ease in the fall once the $300 unemployment bonus expires. But even before the pandemic, businesses complained about a shortage of skilled manufacturing and tech workers, which is undercutting U.S. competitiveness.
一旦300美元的失业救济金到期，劳动力短缺将在秋季得到缓解。但即使在新冠大流行之前，企业就抱怨熟练制造业和技术工人短缺，这削弱了美国的竞争力。
The Senate on Tuesday passed a bipartisan $200 billion industrial policy bill. But where will U.S. businesses find workers to operate semiconductor plants and develop cutting-edge technologies? Only 22% of high-school seniors were proficient in science on the 2019 Nation’s Report Card.
参议院周二通过了一项两党共同提出的2000亿美元工业政策法案。但是，美国企业到哪里去找工人来经营半导体工厂和开发尖端技术呢？在2019年全国成绩单上，只有22%的高中毕业生精通科学。
Foreign nationals on temporary visas make up half of engineering master’s degrees awarded by U.S. universities. Yet the bill does nothing to increase employment-based immigration or improve America’s failing public K-12 schools, which are the root of America’s skilled-worker shortage. Earth to Congress: Businesses that can’t find workers in the U.S. will export jobs overseas.
持有临时签证的外国人占美国大学授予的工程硕士学位的一半。然而，参议院通过的法案并没有增加以就业为基础的移民，也没有改善美国失败的公立K-12教育，而公立K-12教育是美国技术工人短缺的根源。国会请注意：在美国找不到工人的企业将把工作机会出口到海外。