Jobless rate climbs for young veterans - Air Force News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Air Force Times

Jobless rate climbs for young veterans

The U.S. economy created 103,000 jobs in September — but not, apparently, for veterans.

Although the national unemployment rate remains fixed at 9.1 percent, the jobless rate climbed for veterans, especially young veterans, according to the Labor Department’s unemployment report, which was released Friday.

For September, the unemployment rate for veterans of all generations was 8.1 percent, up from 7.7 percent in August.

For veterans separated from the service since Sept. 11, 2001, the jobless rate for September was 11.7 percent, a jump from 9.8 percent in August, according to the report.

For the third consecutive month, Iraq- and Afghanistan-era women are having a harder time than men finding work. For men, the jobless rate was 11.1 percent in September, up from 8.6 percent in August. For women, the September jobless rate was 14.7 percent, an improvement over the 16.6 percent rate in August but still higher than for men.

Big jumps in veterans’ unemployment statistics may be the result of veterans making up such a small part of the national employment survey, but the trend of younger veterans having problems finding work in the tough economy has continued for several years.

The House of Representatives is scheduled to take up a veterans’ employment legislation on Tuesday, but it will not have an immediate impact.

The bill, known as the Veterans Opportunity to Work Act, attempts to improve military transition programs and creates a new skills training program for older veterans who have been unemployed for long periods.

The chief sponsor of the bill, Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, said it will take a year or longer for most of the provisions to have any effect on the unemployment rate. His goal is to cut the 8.1 unemployment rate for all veterans to less than 5 percent within two years.