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U.S Jobs Report, EU’s Italy Dilemma, Blue-Collar Bust: Eco Day

U.S Jobs Report, EU’s Italy Dilemma, Blue-Collar Bust: Eco Day

(Bloomberg) -- Welcome to Friday, Europe. Here’s the latest news and analysis from Bloomberg Economics to help take you through to the weekend:

  • It’s U.S. jobs day -- here’s what to expect and how to read the data
  • Officials in Brussels, Paris and Berlin are talking about rebuilding the European economy once coronavirus is under control. A trickier question may be what they can do about Italy, which had the weakest economic outlook and the most perilous public finances in the EU even before the virus struck
  • As global infections top 1 million, workers remain wary of returning to their jobs
  • Few leaders have more to gain or lose from their health systems’ ability to cope with the coronavirus pandemic than U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson. His government is being hammered for failing to prepare the health service for the pandemic, and his economic relief package is now coming under strain too
  • France is preparing fiscal stimulus focusing on investment and financial aid for industrial sectors including the automotive industry. Denmark conducted its biggest currency intervention in over a decade to support the krone
  • Central banks and governments are rushing to respond as coronavirus plunges the world economy into recession. But is it enough?
  • The effort to contain coronavirus may soon hinge on places hamstrung by weak institutions, constrained resources, and corruption
  • The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits soared to a record 6.65 million last week. Across the U.S., what President Donald Trump had been hyping as a “blue-collar boom” going into November’s election is quickly turning into a blue-collar bust
  • The Fed took a step to avoid crowding out some commercial bank lending with its fast-expanding balance sheet. Foreign official holdings of Treasuries stashed at the Fed fell $109 billion in March, the largest monthly drop on record
  • President Trump is trying to get the world to cut oil production by 10 million barrels a day to end a market-share war that sent crude prices plunging. Russia is planning for oil at $20 a barrel and will ramp up borrowing in rubles to make up for a budget shortfall

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