Stimulating Reforms, Election Delay, Jobless Surprise: Eco Day

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

• Chinese President Xi Jinping called for a greater push on reforms to stimulate the economy in order to ride out mounting risks and challenges, saying conditions remain “complicated and grave”
• President Donald Trump raised the notion of delaying the Nov. 3 election until after the pandemic eases, which he cannot do without the consent of lawmakers who have already rejected the idea
• The U.S. economy shrank the most on record in the second quarter and 17 million Americans claimed state unemployment benefits mid-July. While the GDP drop was anticipated, the jobless claims were not
• Senate Republicans moved forward with a plan to set up votes on extending lapsed supplemental unemployment insurance with President Donald Trump’s endorsement
• For the first time since Haruhiko Kuroda took the helm in 2013, the Bank of Japan isn’t projecting more optimism than private economists in a shift in its messaging facilitated by Covid-19
• Australia’s second lockdown in the city of Melbourne seems to be failing to slow the coronavirus’ spread, a sign that governments are running out of options as it reemerges across the globe
• Infrastructure projects in India are infamous for cost overruns and delays, and they are set for even more pain as the coronavirus sweeps through Asia’s third-largest economy
• Germany’s economy shrank the most in at least half a century in the second quarter, outlining the scale of the challenge facing Europe after virus restrictions that slammed businesses and households
• Chinese President Xi Jinping and then-U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron toasted the signing of the deal to transform 35 acres of derelict London riverfront into a bustling finance hub. Five years on, the vision for another Canary Wharf looks more like a mirage
• The pandemic has wiped out tens of millions of jobs in the U.S. and Hispanic women have watched the unemployment rate for their community soar, ending the historic run of prosperity for Latinos

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.