Thousands of Denton County residents submitted unemployment claims in the last two weeks of March, as stay-at-home orders forced the closure of many businesses amid the coronavirus pandemic.

According to the most recent unofficial statistics by the Texas Workforce Commission, more than 9,500 Denton County residents filed for unemployment benefits in the week ending March 28. More than 5,600 filed the week before that.

The two weeks before those, about 600 Denton County residents filed each week, numbers that are similar to the same weeks last year.

The unemployment numbers are expected to get worse before they get better.