U.K. Unemployment, Confident BOJ, Hong Kong’s Status: Eco Day

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

• U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak’s record spending plans to support the economy this year may not prevent the biggest spike in unemployment in more than three decades. Meanwhile, jobseekers face stiffer competition in northern Britain that backed Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s pro-Brexit message in the last election, according to the recruitment site Indeed
• Getting rid of Ukraine’s central bank chief hasn’t worked out well for President Volodymyr Zelenskiy
• When Italian officials meet to discuss public accounts, their conversations are sometimes punctuated by the click-click-click of the calculator on Finance Minister Roberto Gualtieri’s phone -- and the calculations are bleak
• Israel’s government should take advantage of historically cheap debt to tackle longstanding economic problems, according to the central bank’s No. 2 official
• The Bank of Japan left its monetary stimulus untouched, while painting a gloomier picture of the economy this year. Bloomberg Economics said a more confident BOJ means the policy outlook isn’t likely to change
• Alternative indicators compiled by Bloomberg Economics show the pace of recovery has slowed for most major advanced economies
• President Donald Trump said he issued an order to end Hong Kong’s special status with the U.S. and signed legislation that would sanction Chinese officials responsible for cracking down on political dissent
• China’s economy is set to return to growth in the second quarter, with a range of indicators Thursday expected to confirm the upward trend
• The European Union will seek to diversify its supply chains to cut reliance on other nations for crucial assets such as medicines, the bloc’s top diplomat said
• Fed Governor Lael Brainard, painting a dark picture of the U.S. economic outlook amid a resurgence of virus infections, said the central bank should pivot its forward guidance and asset purchases toward providing longer-run accommodation
• The world’s population is likely to begin declining after 2050, as this map shows

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