手机版
One in five US workers regularly attends after-work drinks with co-workers.
If there are silver linings to the recession, they're not immediately apparent. After all, the national unemployment rate is 8.1 percent, the highest since 1983, and economists predict it will reach 9 percent by 2010.
Gross domestic product is forecast to shrink more this year than at any other time since the Great Depression. And across the country, stores are closing, municipal budgets are tightening, and banks are begging for bailouts.
But a handful of industries, companies, and products are doing well--relatively speaking. They run the gamut from Quarter Pounders to contraceptives, but they share a key component: Whether they help people pivot to new careers, cut costs at home, or simply escape from all the bad news, they're poised not only to weather the economic storm but to, in some way, benefit from it.
See the full list of the 10 top recession winners.
1. Home Gardening
Research by Atlee Burpee, the world's biggest seed company, found that $50 of seeds and fertilizer can yield $1,250 worth of produce. Green thumbs agree: Sales at Burpee are expected to jump 25 percent in 2009, while veggie seed sales at Park Seed are up 20 percent this year from 2008. And a National Gardening Association poll shows that the number of households planning to grow their own food in 2009 has increased by 19 percent from 2008. The trade-off? Fewer flowers. With garden space—and budgets—squeezed, flower seed sales are down.
2. Hollywood
The number of subscribers to Netflix, the DVD delivery service, climbed 26 percent in the fourth quarter from the same time last year. That helped put the company's revenue up 19 percent from the previous year. And according to industry researcher Media by Numbers, 2009's box office sales are tracking 16.5 percent higher than the year before—at this rate, theaters will make $1.9 billion, versus last year's $1.6 billion—with attendance up nearly 15 percent.
3. Bodice Rippers
Harlequin, the world's biggest publisher of series romance, saw North American sales rise $3 million in 2008's fourth quarter from a year earlier. Other escapist literature also has done well: Although most book sales were flat or down in February 2009 from the year before, a spokesperson for the Borders book chain says that science fiction and fantasy were up—as were humor titles.
4. Condom Makers
Whether for at-home entertainment or to try to stave off the cost of a baby in trying times, condom sales rose 6 percent in January from the year before. "If people don't have the money to go out to a fancy dinner or are looking to cut back, Trojan gives them some real affordable ways to stay in and make some great memories together," Jim Daniels, Trojan's vice president of marketing, told USA Today.
5. Résumé Editing
Résumé writer Jerry Bills, who has worked on nearly 30,000 résumés since 1986, says his sales numbers are up 46 percent from last winter. "I'm way too busy to bother to even track it all," he says. "All I know is I don't even have a life anymore."
One poll by the National Résumé Writers Association found that 54 percent of respondents had seen an increase in clients as economic conditions worsened.
And at her own business, says Feldberg, December and January orders had jumped 300 percent over the same time last year. But résumés for certain industries are being submitted more than others. While résumés for the restaurant industry, healthcare, and tourism are up at Peterson's ResumeEdge, those for financial services are, unsurprisingly, down.
即便经济危机中还有一线曙光，它也不会立刻显现。毕竟美国的失业率已达1983年以来的最高水平——8.1%，据经济学家预计，到2010年这一数字将达到9%。
据预计，今年美国的GDP降幅将达上世纪“大萧条”以来的最高水平。如今的美国，商铺倒闭，地方财政吃紧，银行则纷纷向政府要救济。
但相对而言，有一批产业、公司和产品在眼下的经济�；逼谛б婊共淮�，从麦当劳Quarter Pounders汉堡到安全套无所不包，但它们都有一个共同特点，那就是要么可以帮人们找到新工作，削减家庭开支，要么是仅仅逃避所有的坏消息，它们不仅能平安渡过金融风暴，而且还能以某种方式从中获利。
经济�；蚧龅酶５氖笥胰缦拢�
1 家庭种植
全球最大的种子公司Atlee Burpee开展的一项调查发现，投入50美元购买种子和化肥就可以产出价值达1250美元的农产品。种植专家们也对此表示赞同：据预计，Burpee公司今年的种子销量将上升25%，而Park Seed公司的蔬菜种销量与去年同期相比也上涨了20%。美国园艺协会开展的一项民调显示，今年计划自己种植农作物的家庭数量比去年增加了19%。代价就是花卉减少了。由于种植空间和预算的缩减，花卉种子销量下降。
2 好莱坞电影
DVD递送商Netflix公司去年第四季度的订户数量比上一年同期增长26%，这使得公司的收入比上一年增加了19%。根据行业研究机构Media by Numbers的调查，2009年的电影票房比去年增加了16.5%，按照这个增幅，今年院线将有19亿美元进账，而去年仅有16亿美元，此外影院的上座数也增长了近15%。
3 言情小说
全球最大的言情系列小说出版商Harlequin称，去年第四季度其在北美市场的销售额比上一年同期增加了300万美元。其它具有“逃避现实”功效的图书销量也很好。尽管与去年同期相比，今年2月份大部分图书的销量平平或下降，但Borders图书连锁店的发言人称，科幻小说和书名幽默的图书销量有所上升。
4 安全套生产商
无论是为了增进家庭情趣，还是为了在经济困难时期避免养育子女的开销，今年1月份安全套的销量比去年同期增加了6%。“特洛伊”公司的市场副总监吉姆•丹尼尔斯在接受《今日美国》采访时说：“如果人们没钱出去吃大餐或者想节省开支，‘特洛伊’可为大家提供可以负担的方式，在家中一起创造美好的回忆。”
5 简历代写
自1986年入行以来，简历写手杰瑞•比尔斯处理的简历数达近3万份。他称现在他的业务量比去年冬季增加了46%。他说：“我都忙得没法逐字修改了，现在我只知道我已经没有自己的生活了。”
美国简历撰写者协会的一项调查显示，随着经济形势的恶化，54%的简历代写者客户量增加。
简历代写者菲尔德伯格称，就她自己的业务而言，去年12月和今年1月接到的订单比上年同期增加了三倍。但相对于其它行业而言，某些行业提交的简历量增长较多。在彼得森公司的ResumeEdge网站上，酒店、医疗和旅游业的简历量大幅增加，而金融领域的简历却“意外”遇冷。（待续）
Vocabulary:
silver lining:一线希望
run the gamut to cover a wide range [from one thing to another]. （无所不包，包含范围很广；例如：She wants to buy the house, but her requests run the gamut from expensive new carpeting to completely new landscaping. ）
green thumb:an extraordinary ability to make plants grow well.（擅长园艺的）
bodice rippers: a sexually explicit romantic novel; usually in a historical setting and always with a plot involving the seduction of the heroine.（言情小说）
