U.S.-China Trade, Inflation Mystery, Workforce Worries: Eco Day

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

• The risk of President Donald Trump walking out on President Xi Jinping is a worry for China as the two sides seek to close some sort of trade agreement
  • China’s Vice Premier Liu He and his American counterparts decided on arrangements for the next stage of trade talks, state-run Xinhua News Agency reported
• After years of rock-bottom interest rates and with U.S. unemployment at 3.8 percent, where is the inflation? It’s a whodunit that hangs heavily over the Federal Reserve
• Optimism among small companies in the U.S. improved in February, snapping a five-month losing streak that was the longest in two decades on brighter views of future conditions
• Jerome Powell says America’s workforce faces serious challenges: Education levels are climbing only slowly, and both globalization and drug addiction are taking a toll on the labor market. Recent research backs up Powell’s contention
• When is a passenger van actually a cargo van? It’s the obscure legal question at the heart of a trade case that could have profound implications for how American companies respond to Trump’s tariffs
• The U.K. economy rebounded at a stronger-than-expected pace in January following a downbeat end to 2018
  • Bloomberg Economics’ Dan Hanson expects U.K. growth to remain subdued until the outcome of Brexit is known
• The ECB’s latest stimulus probably will leave investors in the dark for months on how potent it truly is
• Here’s what you need to know about South Africa’s attempt to nationalize the central bank

To contact the reporter on this story: Zoe Schneeweiss in London at zschneeweiss@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Fergal O'Brien at fobrien@bloomberg.net, Brian Swint

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