The beginning of 2019 saw some promising decreases in the rate of veteran unemployment — including a 20-year low in April. But since then, the unemployment rate has gone back to slowly but surely increasing.
In 2011 — as a result of the 2008 recession — the post-9/11 veteran's unemployment rate skyrocketed to more than 12 percent. National businesses started veteran hiring initiatives and nonprofits helped veterans seeking employment translate their military careers into civilian jobs. In 2018, veteran unemployment hit an all-time low.
Now, that rate has begun to again increase.
A report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday showed August's veteran unemployment rate as 3.5 percent — only a slight increase from July's unemployment rate of 3.4 percent, but a significant increase from April's low of 2.3 percent.
The national unemployment rate in August was 3.7 percent — meaning veterans overall are still experiencing slightly lower rates of unemployment than the general population. But unemployment is not affecting all veterans equally.
Those good vet unemployment numbers look different for female, minority, and younger vets
Post-9/11 veterans saw an increased unemployment rate of 4 percent. And a study conducted by Syracuse University's Institute for Veterans and Military Families (IVMF) on the 2018 veteran unemployment rates showed that the younger a veteran is, the more likely he or she is to be unemployed.