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April 13, 2020Belle Plaine, Kan. |  By: AP

Kansas unemployment numbers don't show the full picture

BELLE PLAINE, Kan. (AP) - Even record-high unemployment claims do not capture the full extent of job losses in Kansas amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Some people do not qualify for unemployment benefits and others are choosing to find temporary work to tide them over until businesses reopen.

Many others simply cannot get through to the overwhelmed Kansas Department of Labor. The state's 43-year-old mainframe computer cannot keep up with claims and telephone lines are jammed with frustrated callers.

Last week more than 50,000 new unemployment claims were filed in Kansas.