Reluctant to Return, Loan Troubles, Unprecedented Slump: Eco Day

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

• Despite record joblessness, some of America’s newly unemployed are reluctant to go back to work -- here’s why
• The world has entered an “unprecedented” downturn and the global economy will likely shrink 4% in 2020, according to Bloomberg Economics. That’s based on an optimistic assumption that a recovery will start in the second half of the year
• Getting companies to resume operations and factories to reopen is one thing, persuading consumers to go out and shop is another
• Loans to U.S. small businesses through a federal program haven’t flowed to areas hardest-hit by the pandemic, according to researchers
• Nearly one-third of U.S. business economists expect operations at their companies will return to normal within five to eight weeks, though almost as many say it’s likely to be three to six months before coronavirus-mitigation efforts wind down in earnest
• Steven Mnuchin said that “over time” the U.S. will need to look into the sharply rising budget deficits created by the country’s multi-trillion-dollar coronavirus support packages
• Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s search for a successor to Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz is entering its final days with the government having already reduced the shortlist of candidates to two, according to people familiar with the matter.
• There’s a growing consensus that getting testing to minorities will be an important part of getting America back to work
• In a week that sees the world’s three major central banks set rates, the BOJ has set the tone by scrapping a limitation on buying government bonds and ramping up its purchases of corporate debt
• The world’s battered supply chains are shifting to recover-and-survive mode, adapting to a global economy now beset with weak demand and widespread uncertainty
• China’s central bank governor Yi Gang said the country should maintain liquidity at an ample level and offer targeted support to companies.
  • Profits of Chinese industrial companies continued to fall

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