Big dip in unemployment rate for young veterans

Big dip in unemployment rate for young veterans
By Rick Maze
Staff writer
Posted : Friday Jul 6, 2012

The jobless rate for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans fell dramatically in June despite an overall economy that produced few jobs and left the national unemployed rate unchanged.

The unemployment rate for Iraq- and Afghanistan-era veterans fell to 9.5 percent, down from 12.7 percent the previous month and from 13.3 percent in June 2011, according to the employment situation report released Friday by the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.

For veterans of all generations, the June jobless rate was 7.4 percent, a slight improvement over the 7.8 percent rate for May.

The national unemployment rate remains 8.2 percent in a sour economy that produced just 80,000 jobs last month.

Big month-to-month changes in veterans’ unemployment can be the result of statistical flukes because the Labor Department’s monthly report is based on a survey of about 200,000 people, of whom just 22,000 are veterans. The June survey included just 2,600 people who left active duty since Sept. 11, 2001, to draw conclusions about the jobless rate for the newest generation of veterans.

Still, the statistical improvement comes amidst a continuing expansion of federal and private-sector programs aimed at helping veterans get jobs.
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