U.K.’s Help Wanted, Fed Talk on Taper, Asia Factories: Eco Day

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Welcome to Wednesday, Europe. Here’s the latest news and analysis from Bloomberg Economics to help you start the day:

• U.K. staff shortages are rampant as the loosening of lockdown restrictions spurs more hiring
• The Biden administration should diverge from Trump-era trade policy in order to help improve the U.S. economy, a key European Commission trade official said
• The U.K. government announced its post-Brexit system for overseeing subsidies to companies, promising to make quicker decisions than when Britain was in the European Union
• The U.S. economy’s surprising strength warrants scaling back asset purchases sooner, starting with mortgage-backed securities, Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller told Bloomberg Television
• U.S. free-trade agreements reached over the past 3 1/2 decades have had a “small but positive” effect on the world’s biggest economy, a report by a bipartisan federal agency analyzing trade issues showed
• China’s manufacturing held firm in June amid easing price pressures, while a steep drop in car production was a blow to Japan’s factory output
• Bloomberg Economics explores how today’s Chinese central bank doesn’t follow the Fed, with tapering now and easing later
• Singapore’s central bank sees a virus-versus-vaccine battle in the months ahead as a big test to global recovery while its own government ramps up inoculation efforts
• Africa’s oldest central bank celebrates its centenary Wednesday just as it started -- steering South Africa through an economic crisis

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