Key points

The Delta variant continues to spread, prompting a downgrade in our growth outlooks for Australia and China, where further lockdowns have been implemented.
Inflation has run above central bank targets in the United States and United Kingdom as the newly reopened economies face a mismatch in supply and demand.
As planned, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) will begin tapering bond purchases in September in anticipation of a return to strong growth in 2022.
We expect monthly job gains in the U.S. to average around 650,000 for the rest of 2021 and for the unemployment rate to fall toward the mid-4% range by year-end.