The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits rose to a record 3.28 million last week after a number of businesses ceased operations and released workers as part of US efforts to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

This is the clearest economic sign that the pandemic is already causing severe shocks. Unemployment claims for the week ending March 21 jumped from 282,000 in the previous week and nearly triple the previous record of 695,000 set in 1982, according to Labor Department data released Thursday. These data have been tracked since 1967.

Economists’ projections for the number of applications range to 4.4 million.

“This shows the gravity of the downturn and its accelerating”, said Michael Mayer, head of Bank of America’s US Economics division. “This speaks to the unusual nature of this recession – it is a sharp dip in the recession over previous recessions where the shock has more time to multiply. Probably those big numbers will hold up over the next few weeks”, added Michael Mayer.

Applications increased in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, with nine states reporting increases of at least 100,000 compared to the previous week. Pennsylvania has seen the highest growth in job applications – 378.9 thousand California applications, on the other hand, have increased by 129.2 thousand to 186.8 thousand In New York, where the coronavirus hit the hardest, applications are increased by 66 thousand to 80.3 thousand.

The impact of the contagion is evident in the reports of state unemployment bureaus across the country last week. The reported values ​​are probably only the beginning of a process in which millions of people will lose their jobs because of contagion as more companies cease operations.