US unemployment will hit a post-war record high as the world’s biggest economy is ravaged by the coronavirus pandemic, economists warned after millions of Americans filed for benefits in the space of one week.

A record 3.3 million people signed up for unemployment benefits last week, four times higher than the previous record-high in October 1982 and 12 times the 282,000 in the previous week, the US Labour Department said.

The spike in claims puts an end to a jobs boom that has fuelled American growth for a decade since the financial crisis.

It suggests US unemployment has already surpassed 5pc, after sitting at a 50-year low of 3.5pc as recently as February.

Wall Street had expected even worse, however. The Dow Jones wrapped up its strongest three days in nine decades, gaining more than 6pc and putting it 21pc higher than its Monday low.

It was the Dow’s strongest three-day percentage increase since 1931.

“It’s encouraging to see people buying a day after a big up day because we hadn’t seen that in a month,” said Randy Frederick, vice president of trading & derivatives at Charles Schwab.

“That doesn’t guarantee that the bottom is in, but it is indicative of a bottoming process.”

Nonetheless, the enormous spike in jobless claims puts an end to an employment boom that has fuelled American growth for a decade since the financial crisis.

It suggests US unemployment has already surpassed 5pc, after sitting at a 50-year low of 3.5pc as recently as February.

Economists warned this only represents the start of weeks of lay-offs that could see the jobless rate approach 13pc by May – higher than the 10pc seen during the financial crisis of 2009, or the 10.8pc record set in 1982.

James Bullard, Federal Reserve ratesetter, has said the jobless rate could even hit 30pc – equivalent to around 50 million Americans out of work, and above unemployment rates during the depths of the Great Depression in 1933.