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In 2012, the jobless rate for veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces fell by 1.3 percentage points to 7.0 percent. The unemployment rate for veterans who served on active duty at any time since September 2001—a group referred to as Gulf War-era II veterans—declined by 2.2 percentage points to 9.9 percent.
| Characteristic | Unemployment rate (in percent) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | |
| Veterans, total 18 years and over | |||||
Total | 4.6 | 8.1 | 8.7 | 8.3 | 7.0 |
Men | 4.6 | 8.1 | 8.8 | 8.3 | 6.9 |
Women | 5.2 | 8.0 | 7.9 | 9.1 | 8.3 |
| Gulf War-era II | |||||
Total | 7.3 | 10.2 | 11.5 | 12.1 | 9.9 |
Men | 7.1 | 9.9 | 11.4 | 12.0 | 9.5 |
Women | 8.9 | 11.5 | 12.0 | 12.4 | 12.5 |
| Gulf War-era I | |||||
Total | 4.0 | 7.6 | 7.7 | 7.0 | 5.9 |
Men | 3.8 | 7.7 | 7.8 | 7.1 | 5.6 |
Women | 5.5 | 7.1 | 6.5 | 6.3 | 8.0 |
| WWII, Korean War, and Vietnam era | |||||
Total | 4.2 | 7.5 | 8.3 | 7.6 | 6.4 |
Men | 4.3 | 7.6 | 8.4 | 7.6 | 6.4 |
Women | 3.2 | 5.4 | 5.5 | 7.9 | 4.1 |
| Other service periods | |||||
Total | 4.6 | 8.3 | 8.4 | 8.0 | 6.7 |
Men | 4.6 | 8.4 | 8.6 | 7.9 | 6.8 |
Women | 3.8 | 7.5 | 7.0 | 9.4 | 6.2 |
| Nonveterans | |||||
Total | 5.6 | 9.1 | 9.4 | 8.7 | 7.9 |
Men | 6.0 | 10.3 | 10.5 | 9.3 | 8.1 |
Women | 5.2 | 7.8 | 8.4 | 8.2 | 7.7 |
Among all veterans in 2012, the unemployment rate for men declined by 1.4 percentage points to 6.9 percent. The rate for female veterans was little changed at 8.3 percent.
Among male Gulf War-era II veterans, the unemployment rate fell by 2.5 percentage points to 9.5 percent from 2011 to 2012. The rate for female veterans, at 12.5 percent in 2012, was little different from the prior year. The unemployment rates for male and female Gulf War-era I veterans were 5.6 and 8.0 percent, respectively, lower than the rates for their Gulf War-era II veteran counterparts (9.5 and 12.5 percent, respectively). These differences in the unemployment rates reflect, at least in part, the older age profile of veterans who served during Gulf War era I.
In 2012, the unemployment rate for those veterans who served during World War II, the Korean War, or the Vietnam era.was 6.4 percent—a decrease from 7.6 percent in 2011.
These data are from the Current Population Survey, a monthly survey of households that provides information on employment and unemployment in the United States. For more information, see "Employment Situation of Veterans — 2012" (HTML) (PDF), news release USDL-13-0477.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Unemployment among veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces declines in 2012 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2013/ted_20130322.htm (visited October 30, 2024).