(CNN) White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said Sunday that he expects the US is going to see an unemployment rate comparable to the Great Depression as a result of the strain the coronavirus has placed on the national economy.

"This is the biggest negative shock that our economy, I think, has ever seen. We're going to be looking at an unemployment rate that approaches rates that we saw during the Great Depression," Hassett told ABC's "This Week." "During the Great Recession, remember that was a financial crisis around 2008, that we lost 8.7 million jobs and the whole thing. Right now, we're losing that many jobs about every 10 days."

While some private economists have projected unemployment at that level, it is striking that such a prediction is coming from a key White House economic adviser.

For the fifth week in a row, millions of American workers applied for unemployment benefits , seeking financial relief as businesses remained shuttered due to coronavirus.

First-time claims for unemployment benefits totaled 4.4 million in the week ending April 18, after factoring in seasonal adjustments, the US Department of Labor said.

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