據美國有線電視新聞網7月3日報道，受美聯儲數月來持續加息影響，美企爭相削減成本、裁員難止，部分失業民眾深陷財務困境。專家預測，更多美國人可能陷入這種困境。跨國投資銀行集團杰富瑞高級經濟學家托馬斯·西蒙斯表示，“2023年企業仍將重點放在削減成本上，這將導致更多人失業”。他表示，如果更多美國人因失業而被迫削減開支，可能會使美國經濟陷入衰退。

Wall Street bankers, investors and economists have for months waffled over whether a US recession is coming. But for some Americans, the unforgiving economic pain typical during recession has already set in.
幾個月來，華爾街銀行家、投資者和經濟學家還不確定美國經濟衰退是否即將到來。但對于一些美國民眾來說，經濟衰退期典型的財務噩夢已經開始顯現。

Al Brown and his fiancée faced a tough call in May when reviewing their weekly budget: What’s a higher priority, more food or dish soap?
艾爾·布朗和他的未婚妻今年5月在做每周預算時面臨一個艱難的決定： 更多的食物還是洗潔精，哪個才是是更優先的事項？

Based in Concord, North Carolina, Brown was the main breadwinner for his fiancée and their two children. Then in April, he was let go from his job as a global director of business development at software company Cascade.
布朗住在北卡羅來納州康科德，是他的未婚妻和兩個孩子的主要經濟支柱。然后在四月份，他被軟件公司 Cascade解雇，他的職務是該公司全球業務開發總監。

He’s since quit his gym membership and sold miscellaneous items around his home, including a computer and yard furniture, to make ends meet. His 13-year-old son quit the basketball team. 
此后，他取消了健身房會員卡，并出售了家里的電腦和庭院家具等各種物品，以維持開銷。他13歲的兒子退出了籃球隊。

Brown, 37, now spends his days scouring the internet for jobs or reaching out to potential connections. After filing over 600 applications, only a handful have produced interviews, he says. That’s a far cry from the labor-market strength depicted in government figures.
37 歲的布朗現在每天都在互聯網上尋找工作或接觸潛在的人脈。他說，在提交了 600 多份求職申請后，只收到了一小部分的面試機會。這與美國政府公布的數據中顯示的美國勞動力市場表現相差甚遠。

Investors and economists have been expecting a recession since last year as the Fed raised interest rates to tame inflation. That triggered companies to focus on profitability over growth, which meant cutting spending and reducing their workforces.
自2022年以來，隨著美聯儲加息以抑制通脹，投資者和經濟學家一直預計美國經濟將出現衰退。這促使企業更關注盈利而非企業發展，大力削減支出和裁員。

Tens of thousands of layoffs have resulted since. Some of those laid-off workers have been able to land on their feet. Others haven’t been as lucky.
此后，數以萬計的員工被解雇。其中一些被解雇的員工恢復了正常生活但另一些人就沒那么幸運。

Nina McCollum, 54, was laid off from her writing gig at jobs site Glassdoor back in March. She hasn’t found a new role since, despite applying to hundreds of jobs.
今年3月，在招聘網站 Glassdoor 從事寫作工作的54 歲的尼娜·麥科勒姆于被解雇。自那以后，盡管她申請了數百份工作，但仍沒有找到新的職位。

She’s been living off her savings, selling her blood plasma and frequenting food pantries just to get by — all while taking care of a teenage son. Her domestic partner helps out, but he can’t make up for her lost income.
她一直靠積蓄生活，甚至靠賣自己的血漿、經常光顧食物銀行來勉強度日，此外，她還要照顧一個十幾歲的兒子。

“I think it’s unlikely that I will get another good paying job with great benefits like the one I had,” McCollum, who lives in Cleveland, Ohio, said.
住在俄亥俄州克利夫蘭的麥科勒姆說：“我認為我不太可能找到另一份像我以前那樣薪酬福利不錯的工作。”

More Americans are likely to enter this predicament, some experts predict.
一些專家預測，更多的美國人可能會陷入這種困境。

As we go through 2023, “and into next year, there is still going to be this focus on trying to reduce costs, and it is going to result in more unemployment,” said Thomas Simons, a senior economist at Jefferies.
跨國投資銀行集團杰富瑞高級經濟學家托馬斯·西蒙斯表示，“2023年企業仍將重點放在降低成本上，這將導致更多人失業”。

The impact of layoffs, currently concentrated among white-collar workers, will reverberate throughout the economy through a “big pullback in overall spending,” Simons said. Consumer spending accounts for about two-thirds of economic output, so if more Americans are forced to cut back because they were laid off, that might throw the US economy into a recession.
西蒙斯表示，目前裁員的影響主要集中在白領群體。這將導致“整體支出的大幅縮減”，從而影響到美國經濟發展。消費者支出約占經濟產出的三分之二，因此，如果更多的美國人因失業而被迫削減開支，這可能會使美國經濟陷入衰退。

編譯：董靜、李蕙帆（實習）
來源：CNN