U.S. Jobs, Stimulus Hope, Gender Pay Disparity: Eco Day

(Bloomberg) -- Welcome to Thursday, Americas. Here’s the latest news and analysis from Bloomberg Economics to help you start the day:

• U.S. employment gains probably slowed only modestly in November despite a record surge of coronavirus cases that still threatens to limit or even reverse hiring in coming months
• Democrats are making a bid to break the standoff on a new stimulus package with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer scaling back demands on a relief plan, as President-elect Joe Biden urged Congress to find a bipartisan path forward
  • Low interest rates call for a revolution in thinking about government debt and borrowing and should strengthen Biden’s resolve in putting fiscal stimulus at the top of his agenda, Jason Furman -- the former Chair of Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers -- told the Stephanomics podcast
• More and more U.S. companies are burning through cash as the pandemic moves closer to being a year old
• More U.S. women than men said they have less power to ask for a pay raise or benefits in light of the pandemic, indicating that the coronavirus has entrenched the gender disparity in wage bargaining, a survey by Moody’s Analytics and Morning Consult showed
• The Senate voted to advance Christopher Waller’s nomination to serve on the Federal Reserve Board, clearing the way for final confirmation Thursday
• After more than two weeks of sometimes contentious hearings, on Nov. 24 the Chicago City Council narrowly passed a 2021 “pandemic budget” to close a $1.2 billion deficit. It’s a victory for first-term Mayor Lori Lightfoot
• Bank of Canada veteran Sharon Kozicki is the pick of economists to be the central bank’s next second in command
• The prolonged drought and scorching heat wreaking havoc in Brazilian crops is drying up the country’s dams, threatening electricity supply just as Latin America’s largest economy rebounds from a pandemic-driven slowdown
• Microfinance can provide low-income people with the money they need to run a small busines, but the pandemic is making the loans riskier for them -- and their lenders

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