"This reversal of economic fortune has caused a level of pain that is hard to capture in words," said Fed Chair Jerome Powell.
"If the current rate of decline continues, claims will dip below 1M in the second or—more likely—third week of June," said economist Ian Shepherdson.
"While the economic response has been both timely and appropriately large, it may not be the final chapter," Powell said.
Every investor wants to know what the recovery from the pandemic will look like, and Bank of America says China is providing important clues.
"The latest report reflects a time when many of the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic were only starting to be felt," said the New York Fed.
The sharp contraction in gross domestic product reflects the swift impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the US economy.
There is "probably no single metric you can look at" to better get a broad sense of how the economy is doing than unemployment, said Jason Thomas.
Simple things like taking enough breaks and making my bed every morning have put me in a better headspace to work remotely during the pandemic.
The surge in claims "should push the unemployment rate up to 17% in the April data, a new post-World War II high," wrote Brett Ryan of Deutsche Bank.
"There is worse to come, hard though that may be to imagine," said a group of analysts from TS Lombard.
"My hope is that we get back to business as usual as quickly as possible," said former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen.
The bank also expects annual GDP to decline 5.3%, a bigger slump than was seen amid the global financial crisis in 2008.
"The coronavirus pandemic and shocks in global energy markets have impacted all manufacturing sectors," said Timothy Fiore, the chair of ISM.