Initial unemployment claims spiked more than 33% last week – a larger week-to-week increase than anything the U.S. labor market saw during the Great Recession – according to a report published Thursday by the U.S. Department of Labor .

There were 70,000 more claims filed during the week ending March 14 than there were in the week prior, bringing last week's total to 281,000. That's not necessarily a number that would typically alarm analysts – unemployment claims have been low in recent years and were last at this level in September 2017.

But the rate at which claims climbed last week is unlike anything the U.S. has seen since 1992.

"This was the first official labor market data release to show the early signs of the coronavirus shock," Heidi Shierholz, senior economist and director of policy at the Economic Policy Institute, said in a statement Thursday morning.

The Department of Labor's statement noted that the spike was "clearly attributable to impacts from the COVID-19 virus," citing "increased layoffs in service-related industries broadly and in the accommodation and food services industries, specifically, as well as in the transportation and warehousing industry."

More than 9,000 Americans have been confirmed to have the coronavirus, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. At least 150 people have died. Internationally, more than 222,000 infections have been confirmed, and more than 9,000 have died.

Analysts warned Thursday morning that last week's jump is likely only the tip of the iceberg. It wasn't until this week that states began to clamp down, closing non-essential businesses and even instituting curfews. The unemployment claims that will be released next Thursday are expected to be among the worst in recent history.