The employment outlook for America’s veterans continued to improve in July. The picture was much different than that for non-veterans. Most of the data on veterans’ employment and unemployment are at or near pre-recession levels.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics divides its data on veterans into four categories, Gulf War Era II, Gulf War Era I, peacetime and other conflicts and veterans of World War II, Korea and Vietnam. The data for all veterans over age 18 and for civilians is also available, as are breakdowns by sex. The data has only been tracked this way since 2006.
With the July release of data, the unemployment rate for veterans continued its downward trend. The veterans’ unemployment rate was 6.9 percent, and 752,000 vets were unemployed. The rate has not been this low since December 2008 and is well under July’s civilian rate of 8.3 percent. July was the third month in a row that the unemployment rate for veterans has fallen.
For veterans who served in Gulf War Era II, the data is equally favorable. From May through July, the number of unemployed vets from this era has fallen from 263,000 to 174,000. The unemployment rate for Gulf War Era II veterans in July was 8.9 percent. This is the lowest rate for these vets since January 2009.
The July unemployment rate for veterans of Gulf War Era I alone was 6.5 percent. This rate has climbed since April’s rate of 5.2 percent. The 170,000 unemployed represents the highest total in ten months. The 2.4 million vets from this era who were employed in July represent the second highest number employed since mid-2009. Despite some poor numbers, the 2012 yearly unemployment rate for this group looks to be on track to be the best since 2008.
There are just over 3 million veterans of WWII, Korea or Vietnam still working. Of those, 6.7 million are no longer in the labor force. July’s unemployment rate for these aging vets was 6.1 percent, the lowest since December 2008.
Veterans from other conflicts and peacetime saw a July unemployment rate of 6.7 percent. This was the lowest rate since November 2008 for these vets and the lowest for 2012. The 211,000 unemployed is the lowest number since November 2008.
Charles Simmins brings thirty years of accounting and management experience to his coverage of the news. An upstate New Yorker, he is a free lance journalist, former volunteer firefighter and EMT, and is owned by a wife and four cats.
