Fed Meeting, U.S. Hiring Cools, BOE’s Tricky Call: Eco Day

(Bloomberg) --

Good morning Americas. Here’s the latest news and analysis from Bloomberg Economics to help get your week started.

• It’s Fed week, but investors see this week’s meeting as an easy call, with officials set to vote for leaving their policy rate unchanged for now
• A more intriguing meeting will come at the Bank of England, where Mark Carney’s final policy decision as governor is looking to be the most suspenseful of his more-than six-year reign
• Ever since she moved to Frankfurt as European Central Bank president three months ago, Christine Lagarde has been working hard to charm the locals. The institution’s new chief has sought to turn a new leaf with Germany after years of cooler relations under her predecessor, Mario Draghi
  • Speaking of Germany, business expectations in the nation took a surprising turn for the worse at the start of the year, underscoring the challenges Europe’s largest economy faces in exiting a protracted slowdown
• A survey of U.S. companies showed that hiring was flat in the fourth quarter, the first unchanged reading in a decade and the latest signal that the labor market is cooling off.
• The uncertainty is no longer whether, but how hard, the new coronavirus will hit China’s economy. A lockdown on cities and an extension of the Lunar New Year holiday mean a definite blow to 1Q GDP, writes Bloomberg Economics’ Chang Shu
• The European Union hopes to achieve a big breakthrough in transatlantic trade relations with small fry
• Finally, here’s how the trade war has helped bourbon and scotch makers find a common enemy

To contact the reporter on this story: David Goodman in London at dgoodman28@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Paul Gordon at pgordon6@bloomberg.net, Brian Swint

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.