April 10, 2008 – The U.S. Department of Labor released new figures today showing the unemployment rate for veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The data shows in 2007 veterans who have served since September 2001 had an unemployment rate of 6.1 percent while the rate for non-veterans stood at 4.4 percent.
When the data is broken down by age, it shows Iraq and Afghanistan veterans between the ages of 18 to 24 had the highest rate of unemployment at 12 percent. For non-veterans the same age the rate was 9.5 percent.
The data also shows disabled veterans had about the same unemployment rate (3.4 percent) as non-disabled veterans (3.5 percent.) And, National Guard or Reservists who served during the current war on terror had a lower unemployment rate (2.6 percent) than veterans who were not in the National Guard or Reserves (8.1 percent.)
Labor Secretary Elaine Chao said “this shows that employers continue to value the leadership and skills of our nation’s veterans.”
