Question

Maybe you are aware that the latest job markets news isn’t promising: Unemployment is still more than 9 percent, and new job growth has fallen close to zero, which is bad for economy, of course. And it may be especially discouraging if you happen to be looking for a job or hoping to change careers right now. But it actually shouldn’t matter to you nearly as much as you think.

That’s because job growth numbers don’t matter to job hunters as much as job turnover data. After all, existing jobs open up every day due to promotions, resignations, terminations, and retirements. In both good times and bad, turnover creates more openings than economic growth does. Even in June of 2007, when the economy was still falling along, job growth was only 132,000, while turnover was 4.7 million!

And as it turns out, even today — with job growth near zero — over 4 million job hunters are being hired every month.

I don’t mean to imply that overall job growth doesn’t have an impact on one’s ability to land a job. It’s true that if total employment were higher, it would mean more jobs for all of us to choose from. And it’s true that there are currently more people applying for each available job opening, regardless of whether it’s a new one or not.

But what often distinguishes those who land jobs from those who don’t is their ability to stay motivated. They’re willing to do the hard work of identifying their valuable skills; be creative about where and how to look; learn how to present themselves to potential employers; and keep going, even after repeated rejections. The Bureau of Labor Statistics data showed that 2.7 million people who wanted and were available for work hadn’t looked for a job within the last four weeks and were no longer even classified as unemployed.

So don’t let the headlines fool you into giving up. Four million people get hired every month in the U.S. You can be one of them.

1.The author tends to believe that high unemployment rate _______.

A. causes many people to lose job opportunities

B. should not stop people from looking for a job

C. prevents many people from changing careers

D. does not mean the U.S. economy is worsening

2.Where do most job openings come from?

A. Job growth. B. Business expansion.

C. Improved economy. D. Job turnover.

3.What does the author say about overall job growth?

A. It increases people’s confidence in the economy.

B. It doesn’t have much effect on individual job seekers.

C. It gives a ray of hope to the unemployed.

D. It doesn’t mean greater job security for the employed.

4.What is the key to landing a job according to the author?

A. Never giving up. B. Being intelligent.

C. Being educated. D. Being experienced.

5.What do we learn from the passage about the unemployment figures in the US?

A. They clearly indicate how healthy the economy is.

B. They provide the public with the latest information.

C. They don’t include those who have stopped looking for a job.

D. They warn of the structural problems in the economy.

Answer 1