Veteran unemployment drops again in 2016

By

Ken Chamberlain

IMAGE DISTRIBUTED FOR U.S. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE FOUNDATION – Starbucks recruiter and Air Force veteran Afsheen Saatchi, left, talks with Spc. Shaquille Armstrong, center, during the Washington State Service Member for Life Transition Summit Job Fair on Thursday, Oct. 23, 2014 at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash. The three-day summit is held in partnership with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Hiring Our Heroes program, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the U.S. Department of Labor, the U.S. Department of Defense, Camo 2 Commerce, and the U.S. Army. Sponsored by Starbucks, Amazon, Call of Duty Endowment, First Data, Toyota, University of Phoenix, USAA and Verizon, the event is part of a series of collaborative efforts between the public and private sectors to connect veterans, transitioning service members, and military spouses to meaningful employment opportunities. The event culminated with a Hiring Our Heroes job fair with more than 4,500 service members, veterans, and military spouses. (Stephen Brashear/AP Images for U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation)

Unemployment among the newest generation of veterans fell somewhat in December after a sharp spike upward in the month before, new government data indicate.

The unemployment rate for Afghanistan- and Iraq-era veterans dropped to 5.7 percent in December, according to information released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The rate was down from November’s 6.5 percent, which was a jump from the 4.7 percent unemployment rate in October.

The overall rate for post-9/11 veterans in 2016 was 5.1 percent, the lowest annual rate since the government started tracking unemployment among these veterans in 2008.

Among all veterans, the annual rate in 2016 was 4.3 percent, the lowest since 2007. Between November and December, the numbers fell from 4.8 percent to 4.1 percent.

The rate among non-veterans, meanwhile, ticked up a bit in December from November — 4.3 percent to 4.4 percent — with an annual rate of 4.7 percent.

About 

Ken Chamberlain