Charting the World Economy: Fed Stokes the Hot U.S. Jobs Market

(Bloomberg) --

Central bankers can’t get inflation to where they want. In the meantime, they’re doing all they can to encourage hiring and jobs growth.

Job creation, which should at some point put a pep into prices pressures, was a focus of former European Central Bank President Mario Draghi, and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell appears on a similar tack.

As the end of 2019 approaches, some are thinking far further out than just 2020. For the European Union, that means a step-change in fighting climate change.

Here’s some of the charts that appeared on Bloomberg this week, offering a pictorial insight into the latest developments in the global economy.

U.S.

As head of the Federal Reserve, the late Paul Volcker earned a reputation as an inflation fighter. Current Chairman Powell wants to be known as a job crusader.

U.S. Democratic presidential candidates are pushing the idea of write-offs. Elizabeth Warren says she’d cancel most of the $1.6 trillion in U.S. student loans. Bernie Sanders would go further -– erasing the whole lot, as well as $81 billion in medical debt.

Europe

The EU aims to be the world’s “first climate-neutral continent” by 2050: Getting there will take investment on a scale not seen since the 1970s, when new cities were springing up across Europe.

Asia

A lack of newborns in South Korea could prompt the Bank of Korea to make baby steps into the realm of unconventional stimulus.

Emerging Markets

Emerging markets from Russia to Turkey are cutting interest rates, providing a potential fillip to the global economy as the Federal Reserve holds off easing monetary policy further.

--With assistance from Maeva Cousin (Economist), Jamie Murray (Economist), Christopher Condon, Jaehyun Eom, Ben Holland, Simon Kennedy, Sam Kim and Rich Miller.

To contact the reporter on this story: Zoe Schneeweiss in London at zschneeweiss@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Fergal O'Brien at fobrien@bloomberg.net

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