Fed Continuity, Supply Choke Points, U.K. Workers: Eco Day

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

• President Joe Biden selected Jerome Powell for a second term as Federal Reserve chair and Lael Brainard for vice chair, opting for continuity as the U.S. central bank grapples with the fastest inflation in three decades
  • Powell and Brainard said their priority will be to rein in fast-rising consumer prices
• Every step of the global supply chain is going wrong -- all at once. This means companies have to place orders several months in advance, pay much higher rates and often order in large quantities
• The European Central Bank is “serious” about ending its emergency bond-buying program in March and may not need to expand regular asset purchases to cover the shortfall, according to Governing Council member Francois Villeroy de Galhau
• Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan defended his pursuit of lower interest rates to boost economic growth, even as the lira tumbled to a new record low
• China’s marked economic slowdown in the second half of the year is testing the central bank’s policy mettle and dividing economists over whether more aggressive action is needed
• More younger women are in the labor force than ever in the U.K. as the pandemic drove structural changes to the labor market
• New Zealand’s central bank will likely hike interest rates for a second straight month and signal a more aggressive tightening cycle
• Ghana unexpectedly lifted its key interest rate for the first time since 2015 as inflation risks build
• In a sign that parts of the U.K. economy have fully recovered from the country’s worst recession in 300 years, Pret A Manger Ltd.’s sales last week rose above pre-pandemic levels for the first time

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