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Why is the jobs recovery so fast? One reason is the nature of the shock that hit the economy in 2020. History shows that financial crunches—tight monetary policy, banking disasters and so on—cause prolonged pain.
为何就业复苏如此之快? 原因之一是2020年对经济造成冲击的事件本身的性质。历史表明，金融紧缩——紧缩的货币政策，银行灾难等等——会对经济造成长期的痛苦。
But economies usually recover speedily from “real” disruptions such as natural disasters, wars and, in this case, a pandemic.
但是，经济通常会从“真实的”破坏中迅速恢复，比如自然灾害、战争，再比如今天讨论的新冠疫情。
In 2005 Louisiana’s unemployment rate soared after Hurricane Katrina but quickly fell back (though part of the adjustment came from people moving away).
2005年，卡特里娜飓风过后，路易斯安那州的失业率飙升，但很快就降了下来(虽然部分原因是人们搬走了)。
After the second world war European labour markets rapidly absorbed soldiers returning from the front lines.
二战后，欧洲劳动力市场迅速吸纳了从前线返回的士兵。
Government policy has also boosted jobs. In 2020 countries including Australia, Britain, France and Germany launched or expanded job-protection or furlough schemes.
政府的政策也促进了就业。2020年，澳大利亚、英国、法国、德国等国推出或扩大了工作保护或休假计划。
At the peak over a fifth of European workers remained technically employed even as they twiddled their thumbs.
在巅峰时期，超过五分之一的欧洲工人在无事可做的时候仍然保有雇佣工作。
When lockdowns lifted, they could quickly return to their roles—rather than having to search and apply for work, which takes time and thus keeps unemployment elevated.
当封锁解除后，他们可以迅速回到自己的岗位上，不需要四处求职，后者需要时间，从而使失业率居高不下。
America launched a modest job-protection scheme, but its efforts were largely targeted at maintaining peoples’ incomes via stimulus cheques and topped-up unemployment benefits.
美国推出了一项规模不大的就业保护计划，但其主要是通过刺激性支票和增加失业救济金来维持人们的收入。
Stimulus schemes shored up families’ finances. Many households also reined in spending in 2020, allowing them to accumulate huge savings.
刺激计划撑起了民众的财务状况。2020年，许多家庭还控制了支出，从而积累了巨额储蓄。
The stockpile is now being spent on everything from consumer goods to housing, raising demand for workers in areas such as online retail and property services (including an extra 200,000 estate agents in America).
这些储蓄现在花在了从消费品到住房的方方面面，提高了诸如在线零售和房地产服务(包括美国新增的20万名房地产中介)等领域对工人的需求。
With labour demand so strong, employers are having not only to increase the number of jobs but also to improve their quality.
由于劳动力需求如此强劲，雇主们不仅要增加工作岗位，还要提高岗位质量。
Amazon exaggerated when, last year, it said it would try to be “Earth’s best employer”, but many other companies are promising similar things, whether by offering employees better in-office benefits (such as tastier cafeteria food) or better compensation packages (free college tuition).
去年，亚马逊称其要成为“全球最佳雇主”的时候，有夸张色彩，但现在，许多其他公司也做出了类似的承诺，无论是为员工提供更好的办公室福利(比如更美味的餐厅食物)，还是更好的薪酬方案(免大学学费)。
In 2021 venture investors put more than $12bn into global hr tech startups, roughly 3.6 times the capital invested in them in 2020, according to PitchBook, a data provider.
数据提供商PitchBook的数据显示，2021年，风险投资者向全球人力资源科技初创公司投入了逾120亿美元，约为2020年的3.6倍。
Bad employers are having a tough time. The share of Americans worried about poor job security is near a historical low.
劣质雇主的日子比较艰难。担心工作不稳定的美国人比例接近历史低点。
In Britain the share of full-time workers on a “zero-hours contract”, where there are no guaranteed hours, soared after the financial crisis but is now falling.
在英国，没有固定工作时间的“零时工合同”的全职员工比例在金融危机后大幅上升，但现在正在下降。
Many of the gig-economy firms that grew in the early 2010s by relying on an army of underemployed workers are struggling to find staff. Whether in London, Paris or San Francisco, hailing a ride is harder than it used to be.
许多零工经济公司在2010年代早期，依靠大量未充分就业的工人发展起来，现在却难以招到员工。无论是在伦敦、巴黎还是旧金山，打车比以前更难了。
The best measure of labour-market tightness is pay, which distils the relative bargaining power of workers and firms into a single number. In some places the situation is clearly getting out of hand.
衡量劳动力市场紧张度的最好方法是工资，它将工人和公司的相对议价能力凝练成了一个数字。在一些地方，情况显然已经失控。
Wheeler County, Nebraska, is a heavily agricultural place a long way from anywhere. In December unemployment fell to around 0.5%.
内布拉斯加州惠勒县是一个农业重镇，离任何地方都很远。12月，失业率降至0.5%左右。
Jobs at a nearby Chipotle Mexican Grill pay $15-16.50 an hour, at least twice the federal minimum. Some firms claim to be raising wages by 30% or more.
附近一家Chipotle Mexican Grill餐厅的工作时薪为15-16.50美元，至少是联邦规定最低工资的两倍。一些公司声称要将工资提高30%甚至更多。
Some countries still look decidedly un-Nebraskan. Japanese wage growth is easing, not accelerating.
一些国家的情况跟内布拉斯加完全不一样。日本的工资增长正在放缓，而不是加速。
In December the “special wage”, which includes winter bonuses and typically makes up about half of total cash wages in that month, fell by 1% year on year.
12月的“特别工资”，包括冬季奖金，通常占当月现金工资总额的一半，同比下降了1%。
German wage growth is doing nothing special. Canada’s is respectable but it is hard to make the case that things are out of control.
德国的工资增长没什么可说的。加拿大的工资增长值得尊敬，但也不能说到了失控的地步。
