The global manufacturing recovery appeared to have come to a grinding halt in August, activity surveys suggested on Thursday, undermining hopes of a vigorous economic recovery in the second half of the year.

　　周四出炉的制造业活动调查结果表明，全球制造业复苏态势到8月份似乎停滞，这削弱了人们对下半年将出现强有力经济复苏的希望。

　　Across Asia, Europe and the US, surveys of purchasing managers produced the lowest readings of manufacturing activity and orders since mid-2009, when the world economy was only crawling out of recession.

　　亚洲、欧洲和美国的采购经理调查均表明，各地的制造业活动及订单状况正处于2009年中期以来最差的水平，而当时世界经济刚刚摆脱衰退。

　　The figures, better than feared in the US, gave little reason to think the world economy would quickly recover from the twin summer political crises of the US debt ceiling debate and the wider loss of confidence in sovereign debt from the peripheral eurozone countries.

　　这些数据——尽管美国数据好于人们所担心的——让人很难相信，在经受两场夏季政治危机（美国债务上限辩论，以及人们更加普遍地对欧元区外围国家的主权债务失去信心）之后，世界经济将迅速复苏。

　　Global equity markets expressed relief that some of the figures – particularly those in the US – were not worse, but US equities were trading down by the afternoon in New York.

　　美国等一些国家的数据没有太过糟糕，让全球股市松了一口气，但美国股市收市时走低。

　　The global purchasing managers’ index, compiled by JPMorgan, fell to 50.1 in August from 50.7 in July, indicating the manufacturing sector was again struggling to increase output, having been growing strongly at the start of the year.

　　摩根大通(JPMorgan)编制的全球采购经理指数从7月的50.7跌至8月的50.1，表明制造业继年初强劲扩张后，如今又难以扩大产出。

　　Although PMIs are far from perfect indicators of the health of the manufacturing sector, the generalised malaise across developed and emerging economies in measures of output and orders suggested a weakness in underlying global demand.

　　虽然PMI远非衡量制造业健康状况的完美指标，但是不论发达经济体还是新兴经济体，制造业产出和订单指数均普遍低迷不振，似乎说明全球基本需求疲软。

　　The US manufacturing PMI, produced by the Institute for Supply Management, was higher than expected at 50.6 in August, not the 48.5 feared by investors, but it still showed the weakest manufacturing activity in the US since July 2009. Neil Dutta of Bank of America Merrill Lynch said it showed the US economy “is weak but not collapsing”.

　　美国供应管理学会(Institute for Supply Management)编制的美国制造业PMI在8月报50.6，高于投资者担心的48.5，但仍表明美国制造业处于2009年7月以来最疲弱的状态。美银美林(Bank of America Merrill Lynch)的尼尔?杜塔(Neil Dutta)表示，该数据表明美国经济“疲弱但并未在崩溃”。

　　Similar manufacturing difficulties were evident across Asia. The two competing Chinese PMI indices notched up small increases but remained at levels far below those suggesting rapid growth.

　　整个亚洲地区的制造业也同样低迷。中国两项相互竞争的PMI指数均小幅上升，但远低于表明迅速扩张的水平。

　　Japan’s PMI fell back to a three-month low, indicating a still-faltering recovery from the effects of the tsunami in March, while the indices in South Korea and Taiwan fell sharply.

　　日本PMI回落至3个月低点，表明日本经济在3月份经历海啸冲击后，复苏仍不稳固。韩国和台湾的PMI均大幅下跌。

　　Robert Prior-Wandesforde, an Asian economist for Credit Suisse, said: “Unfortunately, there is little to suggest that large parts of Asia remain anything other than highly susceptible to growth developments in the US and Europe.”

　　瑞士信贷(Credit Suisse)亚洲经济学家罗伯特?普赖尔-旺德斯弗德(Robert Prior-Wandesforde)表示：“遗憾的是，如今没什么迹象表明，亚洲大部分地区摆脱了与美欧增长态势的联系。”

　　The equivalent European indicators were little better and even weaker even than the “flash” estimates published in mid-August, “signalling an end to the manufacturing recovery which began in October 2009”, according to Chris Williamson of Markit, the consultancy that compiles many PMI indices.

　　欧洲同类指标也一样差劲，甚至比8月中旬公布的预估数字更加糟糕。编制多项PMI指数的咨询公司Markit的克里斯?威廉姆森(Chris Williamson)表示：“这表明从2009年10月开始的制造业复苏已经结束”。