A record 48,000 Kentuckians filed for unemployment last week. U.S. total was 3.28M.

A record-shattering 3,283,000 Americans filed for unemployment last week as state governments across the country shut down numerous industries in hopes of slowing the spread of COVID-19, according to data released Thursday morning by the U.S. Department of Labor.

That figure includes 48,847 Kentuckians, up from just 2,785 initial claims in the prior week.

“In Kentucky, nothing comes close” to last week’s figures, said Jason Bailey, executive director of the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy.

Last week’s historic spike went well above the previous record, in October 1982, when 695,000 Americans filed for unemployment.

Since 1987 — the most-recent year available on the Department of Labor’s website — the previous record in Kentucky came in 1994, when 30,000 people filed.

During select weeks of the Great Recession, some 25,000 Kentuckians filed for unemployment.

The influx of unemployment claims overwhelmed Kentucky’s unemployment infrastructure for extended periods last week, when the website and phone line used to file claims crashed repeatedly as those who lost their job because of the coronavirus sought assistance.

Gov. Andy Beshear has since stepped up staffing levels significantly to deal with the increase, and opened up the unemployment insurance system to tens of thousands of workers who were previously ineligible, including independent contractors, substitute teachers and church-based child care workers.

The Department of Labor’s recent report does not reflect the number of claims made this week, when Beshear announced a mandatory closures of all non-essential businesses.

“I would expect another big number this week, and as this continues to cascade we’ll see more,” Bailey said.

Many of the workers who have lost their jobs are likely to benefit from a bipartisan spending bill that passed the U.S. Senate on Wednesday.

The bill expands unemployment benefits to large swaths of the workforce that would otherwise be ineligible. It also gives eligible workers an extra $600 on top of what they would normally receive — the maximum weekly unemployment check in Kentucky is $552, not including the $600 approved by senators Wednesday.

Workers who had to leave their jobs to take care of a relative who was diagnosed with COVID-19 are also eligible, according to a breakdown of the stimulus bill by The New York Times.

The money for the extra $600, and the money for workers who ordinarily would not qualify for unemployment, will come directly from the federal government rather than the state’s unemployment insurance trust fund, said Bailey.

That fund had about $618 million in it as of January, he said.

With the number of claims Kentucky has processed in the past two weeks, Bailey said he expects Kentucky will run through that $618 million “in a fairly short period of time,” but the state would then be able to borrow from the federal government.

“We won’t run out of money to pay these claims,” Bailey said.

The Senate bill also extends the standard benefit period by 13 weeks. In Kentucky, that will allow people to receive benefits for up to 39 weeks.

All changes to the unemployment insurance program come in addition to a stimulus payment, which will give most American adults at least $1,200.

People who wish to file for unemployment in Kentucky can visit the Kentucky Career Center’s website or call 502-875-0442.

Beshear urged all applicants to follow a schedule released by the administration last week.

The updated schedule directs people to only apply for unemployment benefits on certain days, based on the first initial of a their last name: Sunday, A-D; Monday, E-H; Tuesday, I-L; Wednesday, M-P; Thursday, Q-U; Friday, V-Z.

People who already missed their day should file as quickly as possible.

This story was originally published March 26, 2020 at 10:28 AM.