At least 22MILLION Americans are now out of work due to COVID-19 as another 5.2m claim unemployment - decimating 13.5% of US workforce and 10 years of job growth (7 Pics)

The coronavirus outbreak has thrown at least 22 million Americans out of work in four weeks as tough measures to control the coronavirus outbreak decimates 13.5 percent of the US workforce and 10 years of job growth.

There were 5.2 million new claims for unemployment benefits filed last week, according to the latest Labor Department figures released on Thursday.

The staggering number of first-time claims was on top of the 16.8 million applications filed since the virus took hold in mid-March. 

It means about 13.5 percent of the workforce have filed for unemployment in four weeks. In comparison, unemployment never topped 10 percent during the Great Recession between 2007 to 2009.  

The new jobless claims figures collectively constitute the largest and fastest string of job losses in records dating to 1948. 

The real unemployment number is likely to be even higher because many states are still clearing out backlogs of unemployment claims after lengthy delays due to the influx of people filing online and via the phone.   

There were 5.2 million new claims for unemployment benefits filed last week, according to the latest Labor Department figures released on Thursday

The states with the largest increases in new claims last week were Georgia (up 256,312), Michigan (up 84,219), Arizona (up 43,488), Texas (up 38,982) and Virginia (up 34,872).   

All businesses deemed nonessential have been closed in 48 states as the economy has essentially shut down to stop the spread of coronavirus.

Some economists say the unemployment rate could reach as high as 20 percent in April, which would be the highest rate since the Great Depression of the 1930s. 

Layoffs have spread beyond services industries such as restaurants and hotels into blue-collar and professional occupations, including software programmers, construction workers and sales jobs. 

Up to 50 million jobs are vulnerable to coronavirus-related layoffs, economists say - about one-third of all positions in the United States. 

Weekly jobless claims, the most timely data on the economy's health, are being closely watched for clues on the depth of the downturn, when the waves of layoffs may let up and when a recovery might start. 

Last week, authorities in Miami, Florida handed out unemployment forms to people lining on foot and in cars after the website they were posted on crashed 

Authorities began distributing paper forms lastr week in the Miami neighborhood of Hialeah where lines to pick up the documents wrapped around the block

People line up outside the Utah Department of Workforce Services in Salt Lake City on Monday

The latest unemployment benefits report followed dismal data on Wednesday showing a record drop in retail sales in March and the biggest decline in factory output since 1946.  

The surge of jobless claims continues to overwhelm state unemployment offices around the country. 

Last week, authorities in Miami, Florida handed out unemployment forms to people lining on foot and in cars after the website they were posted on crashed.   

Meanwhile, thousands of people have been lining up at food banks across the country as the jobless toll from the coronavirus continues to mount. 

Cars lined for 1.5 miles outside a drive-thru food distribution site in Florida on Wednesday. Thousands more lined up in Los Angeles, San Antonio and Pittsburgh over the Easter weekend.   

Thousands of people have been lining up at food banks across the country as the jobless toll from the coronavirus continues to mount. People are pictured waiting in line to receive lunch at the Bowery Mission in New York this week

The global economy is expected to suffer its worst year since the Great Depression of the 1930s, the International Monetary Fund forecast Tuesday. Unemployed men wait in long lines for bread and handouts during the Great Depression, pictured