More than 3 million file U.S. unemployment claims, the most ever in a week.

A Los Angeles restaurant, Chi Spacca, offered meals and supplies to workers in the industry who have lost jobs or are struggling because of the coronavirus outbreak.Credit...Allison Zaucha for The New York Times

More than three million people filed for unemployment benefits in the United States last week, sending a collective shudder throughout the economy that is unlike anything Americans have experienced.

In the half-century that the government has tracked applications, the worst week ever was 695,000 “initial” claims. That was in October 1982.

The latest numbers, released by the Labor Department on Thursday, are some of the first hard data on the economic toll of the coronavirus pandemic, which has shut down whole swaths of American life faster than government statistics can keep track.

Just three weeks ago, barely 200,000 people applied for jobless benefits, a historically low number.

As staggering as the new figures are, they almost certainly understate the problem. Some part-time and low-wage workers don’t qualify for unemployment benefits. Nor do gig workers, independent contractors and the self-employed, although the emergency aid package being considered by Congress would broaden eligibility. Others who do qualify may not know it.

And the sudden rush of layoffs has led to jammed phone lines and overwhelmed computer servers at unemployment offices across the country, leaving many people unable to file claims.

Reference: NY Times