Veteran Employment Increases

In the past five years, the growth of unemployed veterans continued to rise. These veterans are basically all veterans from after 9/11. However, the Bureau of Labor Statistics recently showed off a report, showing there was a 5% decline during the months of January and February of unemployed post 9/11 veterans. This is the first time, in the past four years, that veteran’s unemployment has gone below the unemployment rate for the rest of the population.

Throughout 2007 up until 2011, it seemed that the unemployment rate continued to rise for veterans. In fact, just last year, the unemployment rate for veterans was at a whopping 12.1 percent. Anything in the double digits is considered high when it comes to unemployment rates. However, within just the first two months of the new year of 2012, there was a huge decline in the unemployment rate of veterans. Many believe that the low numbers are due partly in favor of the different companies that specifically hire veterans or work with veterans to make sure they find employment. It is also believed that because the economy in the United States is generally improving, so is the work force for the general population and for veterans too.

In fact, the report shows that in just these two months of January and February, there were more veterans who found jobs than all of last year. This is shocking, as the number of veterans who have found employment between January and February was 166,000. During the previous year of 2011, for the entire year and not just two months, there were only 127,000 veterans who were able to find jobs and steady employment. There are currently a lot of different veteran employment opportunities, where agencies are trying to help the veterans find jobs in which they can use their military skills or similar skills within their position.

There is, however, another reason why the employment rate may have increased for veterans. The GI Bill Benefits were changed and many veterans’ benefits were significantly reduced. Because of this, a lot of veterans have had to go out and look for jobs, even if it is only part-time. With the cuts that were made, many veterans simply needed some sort of work otherwise they would end up in some serious debt.

As of right now, there is no specific data provided as to how many of the student veterans are currently employed on a part time basis. However, it is quite possible that the increase in employed veterans is actually those student veterans who are in need of part-time work because of the reduction of their GI Bill Benefits. While it is still fortunate that more veterans are employed this year than they were last year, more information needs to be provided as to what is causing this increase.