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

• The U.K. government’s plan to get people back to work to fuel the economic recovery is under threat from a rising childcare problem
• Europe’s east can find some consolation despite the unprecedented economic damage wrought by Covid-19
• Europe’s initial reaction to the U.S.’s latest tariff move in the Airbus dispute is a mix of disappointment and mild relief that it wasn’t much worse
• South Africa’s moribund economy is dealing a hammer blow to the country’s banks, which are facing profit declines of as much as 85%
• Bloomberg Economics’ GDP tracker suggests global growth picked up further in July. Most economies appear to have gained from the relaxation of containment measures, says Dan Hanson
• China’s economic recovery continued in July with industrial growth remaining steady, even as weak retail sales undercut the rebound
• Japan’s pandemic-hit economy shrank last quarter by the most in records going back to 1955, official data is set to show, with a resurgence of the virus threatening to slow a fragile recovery
• Malaysia’s economy contracted by the most since the Asian financial crisis more than two decades ago, with the central bank downgrading its outlook for this year sharply
• The Federal Reserve is conducting experiments with a hypothetical digital dollar for research purposes, though it hasn’t yet committed to issuance that would require a formal policy process involving the government and other stakeholders, Governor Lael Brainard said Thursday

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