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Australia Records Highest Birth Rate in 9 Years
澳大利亞在九年中出生率最高
Australia has recorded its highest annual birth rate in nine years, with indications that couples are encouraged by low unemployment and economic stability to have babies.
澳大利亞在九年中創下出生率最高記錄，有跡象表明政府鼓勵低失業率，經濟穩定的夫妻生孩子。
Population figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics released over the Easter break showed there were 133,000 births in the six months to September 2004—the highest half-year total since 1990.
來自澳大利亞人口數據統計局在復活節公布的數據顯示直到2004年九月，前六個月有133000新生兒誕生——這是自從1990年以來半年內最高的新生兒數。
Over the full year to September there were about 255,100 births, the highest annual total in nine years, giving a fertility rate, or number of births per woman, of 1.773 for 2003-2004.
截至九月前的一整年，有255100新增人口，這也是九年中最多的一年。從2003年到2004，每個女性的生育率，或者說生育次數有1.773次。
Craig James, an economist at CommSec, said Australia's baby boom appeared to be a result of strong consumer confidence and an unemployment rate of just 5.1 percent.
一位聯邦證券的經濟學家克雷格·詹姆斯說澳大利亞嬰兒潮似乎是由強大的消費者心理和僅5.1%的失業率造成的。
"Unemployment is at a 28-year low, wages are up, confidence is high," James told Wednesday's The Australian newspaper.
“失業處于28年中最低，工資上升，信心十足，”詹姆斯周三在澳大利亞報紙上如是說。
"People are feeling like it's safe to start a family again."
“人們對開始一個家庭重新恢復信心。”
Australia's birth rate had been in steady decline since 1990, dropping to a half-yearly low of around 125,000 births during the April-September period of 2002.
自從1990年，澳大利亞的出生率穩步下降，到了2002年4—9月間，半年的新生兒下降到125000。
Australia's conservative government has tried to boost flagging fertility by offering financial inducements—including a 3,000-dollar (2,324 US dollar) payment to parents introduced on July 1.
澳大利亞保守派政府為了提振低迷的出生率，試圖通過金融誘因的辦法——包括一個3000澳元（2324美元）給在7月1日的準父母們。
Australia's current population is estimated to be 20,168,900. In the 12 months to September 2004, the population grew 1.2 percent, about half the increase due to immigration.
目前澳大利亞的人口估計有20,168,900。2004年九月之前的一年，人口增長了1.2%，大約一半的增加是由于移民。
While Britain remains the greatest source of overseas-born residents, between 1998 and 2003 the countries with the largest increase in migration to Australia were South Africa (up 7.9 percent) and India (up 5.8 percent).
盡管英國仍是土生土長的當地居民的主要來源，但是從1998年到2003年間，漲幅最大的澳洲移民來自南非(大于7.9%)和印度(大于5.8%)。
