Some jobs are being created in the USA, but they are mostly lower-level, unskilled jobs. The person who wrote the article jokes that the USA is becoming a nation of "hamburger flippers." A person who flips hamburgers is a person who works at a place like McDonalds and 'flips' (turns over) hamburgers with a cooking utensil (tool) to make sure the hamburger is cooked equally on both sides.
The article:
http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/become-nation-hamburger-flippers-dan-alpert-breaks-down-145831220.html
Vocabulary to help you understand the article:
to break down something - to analyze or interpret something in order to understand it better. To look at specific parts of a bigger thing to better understand the bigger thing.
to consist of something - to be made of something
to fall short of expectations - the results did not meet what was anticipated or expected or hoped for.
well shy of “whisper” numbers for payroll figures above 200,000 - to be 'shy' of something means to fall short of something. If a person is shy of his 21st birthday, he is not yet 21. If the money you have is shy of $100, you do not have $100. "Well shy of" means far from what you hoped to have. So economists had been 'whispering' about the possibility of reaching 200,000. This means they had been secretly hoping to reach that number. To whisper is to speak very softly so that most people cannot hear you. Payroll figures would be the number of people being paid to work.
tallies - if you tally something, you add something together. So job tallies are just the number of jobs.
revised down - initially the numbers seemed to be higher but were changed and dropped. To revise something is to change it to make it seem more accurate.
to cite something - in this case it means to mention something, to record something or write something down
a trend - the way things are moving or developing
more of a wounded beast than a bull - he is saying that the economy is not strong. It used to be like a beast (a strong animal) but it is now wounded (harmed). Here's a bull:
retail trade - a person who has this type of job might work in a clothing store or other store selling things
waste services - I am guessing this would be someone who picks up garbage from homes and takes it away.
leisure - pronounced LEE zur: your leisure time is the time you spend not working
low-wage growth - more and more people are getting really low-paying jobs
a recession - when the economy slows down a lot. A depression is worse.
a rebound - if something goes badly but then starts to get better, this is a rebound. The word comes from basketball. If one player shoots at the hoop and misses, another player might grab the ball and try another shot. This is a rebound.
“So a $15 wage to work has no impact… you’re not increasing consumption or the ability [of workers] to go out and buy stuff." - If people are just making $15 per hour, this will not really help the economy to improve. To increase consumption means to increase the purchasing or buying of stuff.
second derivative - to derive something means to get something. A second derivative means that if people make a lot of money, they will buy extra stuff and this, secondly, increases the need to produce more stuff. A benevolent (good) cycle is created and the economy improves.
lackluster - to lack means not to have something. A luster means a shine. So if something is lackluster, it does not shine. So if the economy is lackluster, it is not really that great - it is not 'shining' - it is dull.
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