U.K. Consumers, Penny-Pinching Mint, Republican Impasse: Eco Day

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

• U.K. consumer confidence remained weak in July as the government prepared to start winding down pandemic wage subsidies next month
  • U.K. retail sales jumped by a record in June as a lifting of coronavirus restrictions allowed more stores to open up
  • Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak directed an extra 3.7 billion pounds ($4.7 billion) in virus-relief funds to Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales
• It’s rate decision day in Russia: Governor Elvira Nabiullina has signaled that more monetary easing is likely this month, but economists are split on whether she will opt for a 25 basis-point or 50 basis-point cut
• The numbers are starting to confirm that the U.S. economy is buckling once again, with jobless claims rising last week for the first time since March. At the same time, lingering differences among Senate Republicans and the White House stalled the rollout of their proposal for another pandemic relief package
• Stephanie Flanders and Lucy Meakin explain what top economists take from the Covid-19 crisis in terms of the generational implications of closing down economies
• The fiscal response to the Covid-19 recession is running out of steam just as the rising virus case count impinges on the recovery, Andrew Husby writes
• The U.K. is reviewing the potential benefits of trade agreements with countries such as the U.S. and Japan after Brexit because it believes previous analysis underestimated the possible gains. Meanwhile, the latest round of talks between Britain and the European Union ended with both sides saying they’re still far from a deal

• The U.S. Mint is asking Americans to start spending their pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters to tackle what it says is a coin-supply snag brought on by the coronavirus

  Republican Senator Mitt Romney said he will vote against Judy Shelton, one of two Trump administration nominees to the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors
• President Donald Trump said a trade accord with China means “much less to me” because of what he called that country’s role in the spread of coronavirus. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo has tried lately to cast China’s leaders as tyrants
• Asia has a warning for those expecting a V-shaped global recovery: Exports from the giant manufacturing hub continue to slump. Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s economy can’t catch a break
• Saudi Arabia gained no financial reward in the first full month after ending its oil-price war with Russia

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