Economists: Unemployment rate could stay high as companies don't rehire staff

Economists in the Kansas City metro warn that while some laid off or furloughed employees have made their way back to work, other jobs may not be coming back.

WITH MILLIONS STILL OUTOF WORK -- WE'REHELPING YOU REBOUND,KANSAS CITY.AND JOB SEEKERS HAVEALREADY FOUND A TOUGHJOB MARKET.WHILE SOME HAVE THEIRJOBS BACK -- OTHERS AREAFRAID THEIR JOBS HAVEALREADY BEEN REPLACED.41 ACTION NEWSREPORTER NICK STARLINGDIGS INTO THEPOTENTIALLY LONG-LASTING EFFECT OF THEPANDEMIC.AS BUSINESSES CONTINUETO REOPEN-COMPANIES ARE HIRING AGAIN.BUT LOCAL ECONOMISTSWARN-NOT EVERY JOB MAYBE COMING BACK.-Earl Carter, unemployedI don't know what tomorrowbrings.IT'S THE UNCERTAINTY 67-YEAR-OLD VETERAN EARLCARTER DOESN'T WANT INTHIS STAGE OF HIS LIFE.Earl Carter, unemployedWe can't even travel to go tothe store because we don'thave any money to buyanything.HE'S BEEN WITHOUT A JOBSINCE MID-MARCH.WORKING AS ADISHWASHER AT A LOCALRESTAURANT.Earl Carter, unemployedWith the uprise again of thecoronavirus, and them doingdrive-through service I don'tknow if that's going tocontinue because I don't havea position to where they needme.CARTER IS ONE OFTHOUSANDS UNEMPLOYEDIN THE METRO.ECONOMISTS WARN THEUNEMPLOYMENT RATECOULD STAY IN THEDOUBLE DIGITS-FOR AWHILE.Chris Kuehl- Managing DirectorofArmada Corporate IntelligencePeople that were hit thehardest are the low-wageworkers so getting back intothe workforce is going to bechallenging.ECONOMIST CHRISKUEHL-ADDS-BUSINESSESMAY NOT BE HIRING THEIRFULL ROSTER BACK.Chris Kuehl- Managing DirectorofArmada Corp.

IntelligenceIf you have a restaurant that'sdoing take out now instead ofin-room dining, you don't needas many servers, you don'tneed hostesses you don'tneed dishwashers, you don'tneed a lot of things, you'reworkforce is a third, a quarterof what it used to be.TO MAKE MATTERS WORSE-UNEMPLOYMENTBENEFITS COULD RUN OUTBEFORE A JOB OPENS UP.Chris Kuehl- Managing DirectorofArmada Corp.

IntelligenceThe real threat is that whensome of governmentprograms begin to expiremiddle of the summer, end ofthe summer, there's not goingto be a lot of options.IT'S A JOB THAT WOULDMAKE THIS VETERAN FEELAPPRECIATIVE AND SERVEONCE AGAIN.Earl Carter, unemployedTo go back to work so I canfeel like a part of societystandproud like I'm sitting here now,I want to be prouder.