Shrinking Middle Class, IMF Forecasts, U.S. Job Market: Eco Day

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

• Some 150 million people around the world slipped down the economic ladder in 2020, the first pullback in nearly three decades
• The International Monetary Fund upgraded its global forecast for the second time in three months, while warning about widening inequality and a divergence between advanced and lesser-developed economies
• The euro-area economy is headed for a healthy rebound once coronavirus restrictions come to an end, but investors still need to brace for a bumpy exit from stimulus, ECB Governing Council member Pierre Wunsch said
• Poland will probably keep borrowing costs at a record low Wednesday, judging that threats to the economy from tighter Covid-19 restrictions outweigh a spike in inflation and a weaker national currency
• Sweden’s Riksbank said the rapid pace at which cash is disappearing presents “potential problems” that a digital currency controlled by a central bank can address
• Two of Europe’s most indebted nations are gearing up to test investor appetite for their bonds as an economic recovery begins to lift yields from historically low levels
• A resurgent U.S. job market is creating more opportunities at a faster clip than many economists and employers expected
• The influx -- and influence -- of foreign funds are creating a headache for China, where the Communist Party has long been paranoid about the risks posed by capital flows. Meantime, China will contribute more than one-fifth of the total increase in world GDP in the five years through 2026, Bloomberg calculations based on IMF estimates show
• President Joe Biden said he hasn’t spoken with Fed Chair Jerome Powell since taking office, as Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen outlined her department’s plans to fight climate change
• Inflation in Russia jumped to the highest level in more than four years in March, adding pressure on the central bank to keep raising interest rates

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