填空题

Questions 47 to 51 are based on the following passage.
Fewer Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week and builders broke ground on more homes in May. The latest data offered some hope that the economy may be improving after hitting a recent slump.
Economists said the steady decline in unemployment applications signaled that the job market was improving, but at a very slow pace.
Bricklin Dwyer, an economist at BNP Paribas, said "This is a period of weak growth, and we’re going to see this for some time."
The elevated level of applications suggests that companies pulled back on hiring in the face of higher gas and food prices, which have cut consumer spending. Hiring has slowed sharply since applications rose.
While the job market was improving earlier this year, home building is coming off the two worst years on records dating back five decades. And the May data suggests that will not change anytime soon.
Housing permits, a standard of future construction, rose last month to the highest level since December. But apartment construction accounted for a large portion of that increase. Renting has become a preferred option for many Americans who lost their jobs in the recession and were forced to leave their rapidly devaluing homes.
Though new homes represent a small fraction of the overall housing market, they have an unusual influence on the economy. Each home built generates, on average, three jobs and $ 90,000 in taxes, according to the National Association of Home Builders.
Factory output, which has been one of the strongest sectors of the economy since the recession ended two years ago, has also slowed this spring. And it may be getting worse in the Northeast.
The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said on Thursday that its regional index of manufacturing conditions dropped to minus 7.7 in June, down from 3.9 in May. It was the first negative reading since last September and the lowest reading for the index since July 2009.
The index tracks manufacturing Conditions in the region covered by the Philadelphia Fed. That includes eastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey and Delaware.
According to economists, the steady decline in unemployment applications implied a______ in job market.