Employment Freeze Thaws in Some Industries

(CBS)  AT&T held a job fair in Massachusetts this week, looking to hire 100 sales people for its stores.

"Folks that would never have thought to work in retail before are coming out of the woodwork," Steve Krom a vice president of AT&T New England.

Since the recession began in December 2007, 7.2 million jobs have been lost and the unemployment rate has doubled, reports CBS News correspondent Anthony Mason.

"I think the worst is over, but that doesn't mean you go straight up from here. I think it is going be a long slog to get us out of this hole we've dug ourselves into," said David Wyss, chief economist with Standard & Poor's.

According to a new survey, only 40 percent of employers are planning to rehire former workers. So new jobs will need to come from new industries.

Cubicles at Integra Life Sciences aren't empty because of layoffs, this company wants to put workers in them.

"Currently throughout the company we have over 100 open heads," said Simon Archibald, the chief scientific officer.

Integra makes artificial skin, nerves and joints.

"This is artificial skin. It's completely manufactured here," Archibald said. "And it's used for wounds and burns, etc., and reconstructive plastic surgery."

The company has openings in everything from manufacturing to the legal department.

"Each device we make is more or less completely handmade," Archibald said. "So it provides a lot of opportunity for jobs."

"The modern economy is different. It's a much more knowledge economy," Wyss said. "It's a much more technological economy."

But those jobs could take years to develop. For now, some economists expect the unemployment rate could continue to rise until the middle of next year.