Seth Carpenter, an economist at Swiss bank UBS, estimates that about one-third of last week’s claims had been delayed from the previous week, when state offices that handle unemployment benefits were overwhelmed by a surge of online and telephone claims.

Yet many of those offices in Virginia and elsewhere are still struggling to process all the claims they have received, suggesting more claims will be pushed into the following week.

The magnitude of the layoffs has led many economists to envision as many as 20 million lost jobs by the end of April. That would be more than double the 8.7 million jobs lost during the Great Recession.

The unemployment rate could spike to as high as 15% this month, above the previous record of 10.8% set during a deep recession in 1982.

Employers are slashing their payrolls to try to stay afloat because their revenue has collapsed, especially at restaurants, hotels, gyms, movie theaters and other venues that depend on face-to-face interaction. Auto sales have sunk, and factories have closed.

The reversal in the job market has been dizzying. Four weeks ago, weekly unemployment claims amounted to only 211,000, near a 50-year low. Since then, they have jumped thirtyfold.

“Four years of jobs gains have evaporated in the span of two weeks,” said Daniel Zhao, an economist at the jobs website Glassdoor.

ggilligan@timesdispatch.com (804) 649-6379 Information from The Associated Press was included in this report.