Europe Inflation, China's Shopping List, U.S. Jobs: Eco Day

(Bloomberg) -- Welcome to Friday, Europe. Here’s the latest news and analysis from Bloomberg Economics to help get your day started:

• Bloomberg Economics expects euro-area inflation data for January to show a big decline as lower crude oil costs push down fuel and energy prices and government policy measures drag down
  • Don’t expect Mario Draghi to be as quick as his U.S. Federal Reserve counterpart to switch policy stance if the euro region’s slowdown worsens
• China promised to “substantially” expand purchases of U.S. goods after the latest round of trade talks, and both sides planned further discussions to reach a breakthrough
• U.S. hiring probably hit another milestone in January, notching a record 100th month of gains even as the lengthiest U.S. government shutdown weighed on other parts of the economy. Carl Riccadonna says the jobs report could set the stage for the Federal Reserve to return to talk of interest-rate hikes
  • The momentous, mysterious monetary U-turn by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and his colleagues this week has spawned a host of conspiracy theories as to what’s really going on at the world’s most powerful central bank
• The rapid deterioration in China’s economic data could spur the central bank to cut its benchmark interest rate as soon as today, according to Barclays Plc economists
• South Korean exports fell in January, declining for a second-straight month and casting a cloud over the nation’s economic outlook and global demand

To contact the reporter on this story: Enda Curran in Hong Kong at ecurran8@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Malcolm Scott at mscott23@bloomberg.net, Henry Hoenig

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