SALEM — Another 14,100 Oregonians filed new jobless claims last week, the lowest number in the nearly two months since the coronavirus outbreak hit the state — but an extraordinary tally in any other time in history.

Nearly 400,000 Oregonians have applied for unemployment benefits in the past eight weeks, approximately 1 in 5 of all workers in the state.

The grim total is the best barometer available right now of just how severe Oregon’s coronavirus recession has grown. Oregon will get another gauge Tuesday when the state releases the April unemployment number, which will surely land somewhere well north of 10%, as bad or worse than the toughest days of the Great Recession.

Laid-off workers’ predicament is especially dire this time out because of a crisis at the Oregon Employment Department, which has been overwhelmed by the unprecedented surge in jobless claims.

More than 53,000 claims have yet to be processed, including many still pending for March, as the employment department wrestles with a computer system dating to the 1990s.

The claims backlog has fallen by nearly half over the past few weeks, but department’s struggles have nonetheless left tens of thousands of Oregonians without financial assistance as their jobs vanished.

The state owes hundreds of millions of dollars in unpaid benefits.

On Wednesday, House Majority leader Barbara Smith Warner said the employment department must take “bold action” to eliminate its claims backlog.

“Oregonians are struggling — they need action, and they need it now,” Smith Warner, D-Portland, said.

The job cuts have fallen most heavily on lower paid workers, often working in restaurants, bars and hotels — the sectors hit most directly by the outbreak. Health care workers have also endured large numbers of layoffs triggered by the reduction in nonessential medical procedures.

Gov. Kate Brown has lifted her ban on nonurgent medical appointments, so some health care jobs might start returning in the coming weeks and clinics, dentists and others reopen. And the governor’s decision Thursday to allow many counties to reopen may make room for more jobs to return.

Economists warn that no broad recovery is imminent. The pandemic has sharply reduced consumer and business demand, dragging down the overall economy and slowing the pace of any recovery.

This article was originally published by the The Oregonian/OregonLive, one of more than a dozen news organizations throughout the state sharing their coverage of the novel coronavirus outbreak to help inform Oregonians about this evolving heath issue.