China Omicron Threat, Aussie Spending Cools, Sick Days: Eco Day

(Bloomberg) -- Welcome to Monday, Asia. Here’s the latest news and analysis from Bloomberg Economics to help you start the week.

• Delta has been bad for China’s consumption. Omicron could be worse, according to Bloomberg Economics
• Australian households are already spending less as the fast-spreading omicron variant keeps shoppers at home and squeezes remaining demand, sparking a slew of forecast downgrades
• With the omicron wave of the pandemic rapidly spreading across the U.S., the robust economic recovery is facing a new threat that policymakers have little control over: people calling in sick
• U.S. employers added fewer jobs in December than forecast, while the jobless rate fell below 4% and wages jumped
  • The U.S. jobs report likely will alleviate any lingering doubts on the part of more-dovish FOMC members, Bloomberg Economics Says
• U.S. inflation probably hit the fastest in four decades, helping explain a shift in the Fed’s approach to monetary policy
  • Expectations for the Fed to begin raising rates in March are soaring in the wake of a slide in U.S. unemployment
  • San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly said she favors raising rates “gradually” and moving on to shrinking the Fed’s balance sheet more quickly than last time
• China should take into account carbon neutrality goals when setting monetary policies, local media cited Zhu Min, a former deputy managing director of the IMF, as saying
• Sri Lanka’s central bank reduced gold holdings in December to boost liquidity of its foreign exchange reserves
• The ECB’s inflation forecasts may need to be revised upward
  • Inflation in the euro region accelerated, defying expectations for a slowdown and complicating the task for ECB officials who insist the current spike is temporary
• Concern among some big European nations about economic fallout raises the risk of a split with the U.S. on how strongly to hit Russia with fresh sanctions if it invades Ukraine
• Canada’s labor market beat expectations in December, a strong end to a record year for employment gains
• The Fed has managed to do something rarely seen these days: Get members of the Democratic and Republican parties to agree

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