Negative-Rate Revamp, BOJ Review, U.S. Services Hiring: Eco Day

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

• The world’s longest-lasting negative-rate regime is getting a revamp as Denmark’s central bank will switch from operating one negative interest rate to three by the end of this week
• The Bank of Japan clarified its yield band and scrapped its ETF target at the conclusion of a policy review. The central bank left its main policy rates unchanged in the decision Friday
• American restaurants and salons are set for a big hiring boom as the economy reopens and warmer weather supports services demand
• Nobel Laureate economist Paul Krugman rejected the threat of inflation getting out of control -- like it did in the 1970s -- as a result of President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion pandemic-relief bil
• Covid shrank the middle class globally for the first time since the 1990s, Pew Research Center analysis shows
• Oslo holds the unenviable title of the world’s costliest bottled water, with Stockholm and Helsinki helping to round out the top five, according to data from search engine Holidu
• Plastics prices at record highs are helping keep the inflation debate alive, alongside higher costs for other materials
• Chile’s fastest-since-1986 growth in the fourth quarter adds to optimism about the Latin American economy’s recovery from Covid

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