Bank of America economist says US officially in economic recession

Bank of America's top U.S. economist on Thursday reportedly said the country is now officially in a recession.

Michelle Meyer wrote in a letter to investors that the U.S. economy is in a "deep plunge,” according to a CNBC report, amid the risks brought by the new coronavirus outbreak that took a heavy toll on the global economy.

“We are officially declaring that the economy has fallen into a recession ... joining the rest of the world, and it is a deep plunge,” Meyer reportedly wrote.

“Jobs will be lost, wealth will be destroyed and confidence depressed,” she noted, adding that although “the decline is severe, we believe it will be fairly short-lived.”

After downplaying the severity of the outbreak for weeks, U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday called for bipartisan support to rush out immediate cash payments to American families.

"We don't want people losing jobs and having no money to live," Trump said at a White House news conference, adding that the package "is a substantial number."

"We are going big," he said.

The Trump administration pressed for the enactment of a $1 trillion stimulus package, possibly to include $1,000 direct payments to individual Americans, to blunt the economic pain from the coronavirus outbreak that has killed over 100 people in the country.