Employment picture worsens for veterans - Air Force News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Air Force Times

Employment picture worsens for veterans

The job market does not appear to be getting better for veterans.

October unemployment data released Friday by the Labor Department show the jobless rate for all veterans is 8.3 percent, up from 8 percent in September.

For new veterans who served in the military since Sept. 11, 2001, the rate for October was 10.6 percent. That is up from 10.2 percent in September, but it is better than the 11.6 percent unemployment rate for these younger veterans reported a year ago in October 2009.

Keith Hall, who heads the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which produces the monthly jobs report, said the overall unemployment rate in the U.S. remains at 9.6 percent. While jobs are still being lost, 151,000 new jobs were created in October in temporary help services and computer system design. The food service industry and retail sector also saw an increase in jobs, he said.

Jimmie Foster, head of the American Legion, the nation’s largest veterans’ group, told lawmakers during a joint House and Senate hearing in September that there is “no mission more important” for veterans right now than helping them find jobs in a struggling economy.

One of the Legion’s suggestions is for the government to sponsor job fairs for veterans — something now done by military, veteran and civic groups — because government sponsorship could get more employers interested in hiring veterans.