BofA warns that the US economy will start to lose 175,000 jobs per month...

12.1.22 - More signs of a hard landing ahead

Gold last traded at $1,801 an ounce. Silver at $22.71 an ounce.

The latest jobs report shows that the U.S. labor market is in decent shape, but Bank of America sees trouble looming in the distance.

In October, total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 261,000, beating economists' expectation of a 200,000 increase. It also means that America's job growth is heading in the right direction.

Bank of America, however, expects nonfarm payroll gains to be cut in half in Q4 of 2022 and turn negative in 2023. During the first quarter of 2023, the bank projects that the U.S. will be losing roughly 175,000 jobs a month.

And it's not just the labor market that's going to take a hit.

"We are looking for a recession to begin in the first half of next year," Bank of America's head of U.S. economics Michael Gapen told CNN.

"The premise is a harder landing rather than a softer one."

Let's take a look behind the bearishness.

Inflation, unemployment, and the Fed

The U.S. Federal Reserve has a dual mandate: to ensure price stability and aim for maximum employment.

The first task has been a challenge: prices have been anything but stable.