Morgan Stanley's chief economist sees nearly 17 million jobs lost in the second quarter - with the unemployment rate climbing to nearly 13%

• Morgan Stanley's chief economist is projecting the loss of nearly 17 million jobs in the second quarter as the coronavirus triggers a major economic slowdown.
• Morgan Stanley's Ellen Zentner also expects the unemployment rate is projected to jump to 12.8% in the quarter, a Morgan Stanley analyst told clients in a note.
• "Historic levels of headcount reductions are anticipated in the coming few months," analyst Steven Wald wrote in the note which was focused on makers of human resources management software..
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The chief US economist of Morgan Stanley expects nearly 17 million jobs will be lost in the second quarter of this year as the economy reels from the coronavirus crisis.

Morgan Stanley's Ellen Zentner expects the unemployment rate to jump to 12.8% in the quarter as the pandemic takes its toll on businesses, many of which have already started shedding jobs, an analyst with the investment firm told clients in a note.

"Historic levels of headcount reductions are anticipated in the coming few months," analyst Steven Wald wrote in the note, which was focused on makers of human resources management software..

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Zentner projects a net loss of 700,000 jobs in March and an unemployment rate of 4.2%, he said.

But Zentner also expects the economic situation to improve, marked by a "quick reversal for many of the upfront job losses," Wald said.

But that's not going to happen until the second quarter of 2021, when Zentner expects the unemployment rate to drop below 7%, Wald said.

Morgan Stanley had also predicted that 200,000 people will become infected with the coronavirus in the coming days. Other giants of the financial services industry have also projected the loss of millions of jobs as the pandemic triggered a major economic slowdown.

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