6. What is the main idea of the passage?
(A) The fall in the UK unemployment does not suggest the UK wage is growing.
(B) The state of the UK job market is determined by the US economy.
(C) Raising interest rates is related to improving the unemployment in UK.
(D) The lowest unemployment rate since late 2008 should be attributed to the UK government.

UK unemployment has fallen below the 2 million mark for the first time since the global financial system was on the brink of collapse six years ago. In a pre-election boost to the UK government, the number of unemployed people fell to 1.97 million between June and August, the lowest level since late 2008 when the US investment bank Lehman Brothers imploded and Britain was in the early stages of recession. The jobless rate fell to 6% in the three months to August, from 6.2% in the quarter to July. It was the lowest rate since late 2008. The employment rate rose to 73%, a level last seen in spring 2008 and close to the all-time high of 73.2%. Simon Walker, the director general of the Institute of Directors, said falling unemployment was testament to the “fortitude of British business”. It was not enough to cheer investors however, with the FTSE 100 closing down 181 points or 2.8% at 6,211 – the biggest one-day fall since June 2013. Weak US data, the looming threat of Ebola and geopolitical tensions contributed to the fall. In New York the Dow Jones index closed down more than 170 points. Despite the rise in UK employment, pay growth remained sluggish at 0.7% between June and August compared with a year earlier, prolonging the fall in real pay as wage growth continued to lag behind CPI inflation which was 1.5% in August and 1.2% in September. It was, however, a slight improvement on the 0.6% pay growth between May and July. Pay growth excluding bonuses was 0.9%, up from 0.8%. Jo Swinson, the employment relations minister, said she had asked the Low Pay Commission to explore how to increase national minimum wage without having an adverse impact on jobs. Economists said the Bank of England would delay raising interest rates – on hold at 0.5% since March 2009 – amid weak wage growth, low inflation and a flagging eurozone economy. Philip Shaw at Investec said the Bank was unlikely to raise rates before August 2015.

自六年前全球金融體系瀕臨崩潰以來，英國失業率首次跌破200萬關口。選舉前在英國政府的提振下，失業人數在6月至8月之間降至197萬人，是自2008年底美國投資銀行雷曼兄弟（Lehman Brothers）崩潰，英國正處於衰退初期以來的最低水平。截至八月的三個月中，失業率從第二季度的6.2％降至七月的6％。這是自2008年末以來的最低水平。就業率升至73％，是2008年春季以來的最高水平，接近歷史最高點73.2％。董事協會總幹事西蒙·沃克（Simon Walker）表示，失業率下降證明了“英國商業的強大”。然而，這還不足以吸引投資者，富時100指數下跌181點或2.8％，至6,211點，為2013年6月以來最大的單日跌幅。美國數據疲弱，伊博拉病毒隱隱的威脅和地緣政治緊張局勢助長了跌勢。紐約道瓊斯指數收盤下跌170多點。儘管英國就業人數增加，但6月至8月的工資增長仍比去年同期低0.7％，延長了實際工資的下降，因為工資增長繼續落後於CPI通脹，CPI通脹率分別為8月的1.5％和9月的1.2％ 。但是，5月至7月之間的工資增長0.6％略有改善。不計獎金的薪酬增長為0.9％，高於去年同期的0.8％。就業關係部長喬·斯溫森（Jo Swinson）表示，她已要求低薪委員會探討如何提高全國最低工資標準，而不會對工作產生不利影響。經濟學家表示，由於工資增長疲軟，通貨膨脹率低和歐元區經濟不景氣，英格蘭銀行將推遲加息–自2009年3月以來一直維持在0.5％的水平。 Investec公司的Philip Shaw表示，該行不太可能在2015年8月之前提高利率。

Despite the rise in UK employment, pay growth remained sluggish at 0.7% between June and August compared with a year earlier

儘管英國就業人數增加，但6月至8月的工資增長仍比去年同期低0.7％

6. What is the main idea of the passage?

(A) The fall in the UK unemployment does not suggest the UK wage is growing.

英國失業率的下降並不意味著英國工資在增長