The US has tumbled further down a global ranking of the world's most competitive economies, landing at fifth place because of its huge deficits and declining public faith in government, a global economic group said Wednesday.

The announcement by the World Economic Forum was the latest bad news for the Obama administration, which has been struggling to boost the sinking US economy and lower an unemployment rate of more than 9 percent.

Switzerland held onto the top spot for the third consecutive year in the annual ranking by the Geneva-based forum, which is best known for its exclusive meeting of luminaries in Davos, Switzerland, each January.

Singapore moved up to second place, bumping Sweden down to third. Finland moved up to fourth place, from seventh last year. The US was in fourth place last year, after falling from No. 1 in 2008.

The rankings, which the forum has issued for more than three decades, are based on economic data and a survey of 15,000 business executives.

The forum praised the US for its productivity, highly sophisticated and innovative companies, excellent universities and flexible labor market. But it also cited "a number of escalating weaknesses" such as rising government debt and declining public faith in political leaders and corporate ethics.

The results of a survey of 142 nations comes a day before Obama is preparing to tackle jobs issues in a speech to the US Congress, and just as US polls show a clear majority of those surveyed say they disapprove of the way Obama is handling the economy.

Switzerland held onto its top ranking, the forum said, because of "continuing strong performance across the board" with innovation, technological readiness, even-handed regulation and having one of the world's most stable economic environments.

Germany, Europe's economic powerhouse, was sixth, followed by the Netherlands and Denmark. Japan came in ninth, and Britain was 10th. France was 18th, and Greece, saddled with debt, fell to 90th.

The report looked at broader trends: While the US slipped, emerging markets gained traction. China took 26th place, highest among major emerging economies; Brazil was 53rd; India was 56th; and Russia was 66th.(Agencies)
汉语译文：

一个全球经济组织周三称，在一项世界经济体的全球竞争力排行中，美国因为巨额赤字和公众对政府信心的日益缺失，竞争力排名进一步下滑，降至第五位。

对于奥巴马政府而言，世界经济论坛宣布的这一排名是最新的坏消息。奥巴马政府一直在努力地试图振兴衰退的美国经济，降低失业率，美国失业率已超过9%。

世界经济论坛公布的年度排名中，瑞士连续第三年位居榜首。世界经济论坛，总部设在日内瓦，以其每年一月在瑞士达沃斯举行的精英专场会议著称。

新加坡升至第二名，将瑞典挤到第三。芬兰从去年的第七名升至第四名。美国2008年排在第一，自那以后就开始下滑，去年排在第四。

世界经济论坛发布这一排行已有三十多年历史。该排行基于经济数据和对1.5万商业主管的调查。

论坛称赞了美国的生产力、具有尖端品质和创新力的公司、杰出的大学和有弹性的劳动力市场。不过它也指出“许多逐步升级的弱点”，例如政府债务攀升、政治领袖和企业伦理的公众信念降低。

这项涵盖142个国家的调查就在奥巴马准备发表国会演讲、着手解决就业问题的前一天发布。美国民意调查显示，绝大部分受访者称他们不认同奥巴马处理经济问题的方式。

论坛说，瑞士能维持榜首的位置是因为“在各方面持续强劲的表现”，瑞士在创新水平、技术就绪水平、公平条例等方面都表现出色，而且是全世界最稳定的经济环境之一。

“欧洲的经济发电站”德国排在第六位，其后是荷兰和丹麦。日本排在第九，英国排第十。法国是第18名，负债累累的希腊降到了第90名。

这一报告还观察了更大范围内的趋势：在美国经济下滑的同时，新兴市场则发展态势良好。中国位居第26名，是新兴经济体中排名最高的，巴西排在第53位，印度第56位，俄罗斯第66位。

Vocabulary:

tumble: 坠落

exclusive: 限制严格的

luminary: 杰出人物；才智出众的人

escalating: 逐步上升（增强或扩大）的，逐步升级的

hold onto: 抓紧，保住

across the board: 全面的

even-handed: 公平的

powerhouse: 发电所；动力室

gain traction: 发展得越来越好，越来越受欢迎