New figures show that growth in the American economy has slowed in the first quarter of this year. The US Commerce Department said it expanded at an annual rate of 2.2%, compared with 3% in the final quarter of last year. Here's Andrew Walker.

新数据显示，今年第一季度美国经济发展放缓。美国商务部称年增长率为2.2%，而去年最后一季度的增长率为3%。Andrew Walker报道。

This figure is seen by many economists as rather disappointing. It's lower than what most expected and a good deal less than what it would take to make a substantial impact on the country's unemployment problem. The weakest areas were business investment and government spending. But there were some aspects that are seen as more positive. Consumer spending and export grew more quickly than before. Economic news is important politically in a presidential election year, and what the new data suggest is a recovery that is still rather unconvincing.

在许多经济学家看来，这些数据相当令人失望。这比大多数人期待的要低，且远远达不到对该国失业问题产生重大影响的程度。最不景气的领域是商业投资和政府开支，但也有一些积极的方面。消费者开支和出口增长比以前要快，在这个总统竞选年，经济新闻主要都涉及政治，尽管新数据表明经济在恢复，但仍没有说服力。

Spanish unemployment figures show that nearly a quarter of the workforce is jobless - the highest level in 18 years. More than 5.5 million people are looking for work, and 370,000 people have lost their jobs since the start of the year. Spain's unemployment rate is now the highest of all 17 countries in the eurozone.