The Colorado Springs economy won’t recover the jobs lost in the COVID-19 pandemic until next year, according to an economist at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs.
While the local economy is recovering faster than the rest of the nation, Tatiana Bailey, director of the UCCS Economic Forum, said business closures and other disruptions will make it difficult to return to the near-record low unemployment rate that was reached just before the pandemic triggered a statewide stay-at-home order. She made the comments during a virtual presentation to the Apartment Association of Southern Colorado.
Bailey forecasts that El Paso County’s unemployment rate will average more than 6% this year, or nearly double the 3.3% rate in 2019 before the pandemic inflated last year’s average to more than 7%. The hotel and restaurant industries are a long way from rehiring the employees laid off during the pandemic, and some restaurants and retailers have closed permanently, she said.
Coronavirus in Colorado and around the world — Latest updates, Feb 26
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Economist: Expect rough winter as pandemic spreads, stronger recovery for Colorado after
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Near the end of a new, four-hour PBS documentary called “The Black Church,” comes this succinct summation:
“The Black church is fundamental to the African-American experience. The African-American experience is fundamental to American history. Therefore, Black churches are fundamental to American history.”
Speaking those words is Paul Harvey, who has been teaching history courses at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs for a quarter of a century.
He s among a host of experts featured in the two-part documentary, which debuted earlier this month on PBS and will air again Sunday at 1:30 and 4:30 p.m.
Harvey joins the likes of mega-star Oprah Winfrey, philosopher Cornel West, musician John Legend, activist Al Sharpton, singer Pharrell Williams, Bishop T.D. Jakes of The Potter’s House Church in Dallas and other famous personalities who were interviewed for the deep dive into how, over the decades, the church has helped Black people counter social injustices.