JOBS | Veterans' Unemployment Fell in 2015

Young veterans have an easier time getting a civilian
 job than older ones.

March 22, 2016–The BLS announced this morning that the unemployment rate for Gulf War-era II veterans has fallen to 5.8 percent in 2015, a drop of 1.4 percentage points from 2014.

Gulf War-era II veterans are defined as those who served on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces at any time since September 2001.

For all veterans, the unemployment rate also fell.

Differences by Gender, Age, State

The unemployment rate for all male veterans in 2015 fell to 4.5 percent, lower than the rate for female veterans of 5.4 percent, which changed little from 2014. This is in Table A of the report.

Younger veterans have an easier time getting a civilian job than older ones. Of 495,000 unemployed veterans in 2015,

• 57 percent were age 45 and over,
• 37 percent were age 25-44, and 
• 5 percent were age 18-24. (See Table 2A.)

In 2015, the unemployment rate of veterans ranged from 1.9 percent of those resident in Iowa to 7.7 percent of those resident in the District of Columbia. The rate was 3.7 percent in New York State and 5.4 percent in New Jersey. (See Table 6A.)

Veterans with Disabilities

One-third of Gulf War-era II veterans reported having a service-connected disability in August 2015, compared with 20 percent of all veterans. Veterans with a service-connected disability had an unemployment rate of 5.4 percent in August 2015, not statistically different from veterans with no disability. (See Table 7.) More than 1 in 3 employed veterans with a service-connected disability worked in the public sector in August 2015, more than the 1 in 5 veterans with no disability. (See Table 8.)

VETS UNITE | Gettysburg Reunion, 1938

The Gettysburg 1938 Reunion and Dedication of the Eternal Light Memorial.

For Veterans Day, I am reading about the 1938 Gettysburg reunion and commemoration by veterans of both sides of the Civil War, 75 years later.

The event attracted nearly 1,850 veterans of the Civil War, three-fourths of them from the Union side. Of them, 25 were veterans of the battle – their average age was 94.

The event brought some 400,000   onlookers. FDR came and spoke to them on July 3, dedicating the Eternal Light Memorial.

Gray and Blue Reconciled Veterans.

Initially there was opposition ton the reunion from both sides. For example, questions about whether the Confederate veterans could bring their flags were asked by both sides. Veterans in the south did not see the point of going back to Gettysburg to be subjected to the condescension of "damn Yankees". On the northern side, the veterans did not want to have to look again at the symbols of the confederacy.

There were different feelings about Gettysburg

• Pride in having fought there,  a defining moment of soldiers' lives.
• Victory barely won and lost.
• Horror at the loss.
• Loyalty, disloyalty, sacrifice, freedom.
• When together as Union (Army of the Potomac) veterans, they celebrated the end of slavery..

Gettysburg was the geographic center of the memory of the war. The 1938ncommemoration was a big success because it was 

• A Reunion.
• Memory of Reconstruction, coming back to a different society.
• Reconciliation - among people who spent four years trying to kill one another.

In 1869 Gettysburg was dedicated as a soldiers' cemetery.  Initially, it was a cemetery for Union soldiers. But a Union general, George G. Meade, spoke on this occasion and acknowledged that Confederate soldiers should be left to their Maker to be judged – they should be remembered here as well as Union soldiers. By 1895 the Gettysburg monument covered 500 acres and some Confederate soldiers were reburied there.

Here is a well-presented history of the Gettysburg memorial:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ayaLqWfZgM

BLOG VIEWS | 20K Views, Top Ten Posts

Thank you for reading and commenting. We just went past 20,000 page views.

These are the top ten posts, based on page views, since this blog was started in mid-2013:

7. Hiding Jews in Holland from the Nazis - Bob Boi... Dec 2, 2014 (Chapter 7 of a forthcoming book I am writing on the Dutch Resistance)

CHAMPS Closes Down Dec 10, 2014, 54 comments

D-Day Week 2014, 70th Anniversary Memorial for Dow... May 30, 2014

11. After the War - The Boissevain Family, Mengelb... Nov 2, 2014 (Chapter 11 of the book)

Bletchley Park and the U.S. (AT&T) Contribution May 31, 2015

Veteran's Story 1 - Sgt. Tom Collins at Bletchley ...Jun 9, 2013

Veterans' Initiatives 3 - VA Loans - New York City...Jun 11, 2013

Financial Coaching for Veterans May 21, 2015

American Sniper (Comment) Jan 31, 2015
FBI Agents Write Tale of My Classmate the Unab... May 30, 2014

Survey of Veterans - Unemployment Fell in 2013

Unemployment Rate for Veterans - White House Chart. 

Here are highlights of 2013 job data on veterans, based on a special survey of veterans as well as the regular BLS sample of civilian employment. The data were released today (March 20) by the BLS:

• Unemployment among Gulf War II veterans was down slightly to 9.0 percent in 2013.  For all veterans, it fell to 6.6 percent. The unemployment rate for all female veterans declined to 6.9 percent. The rate for male veterans fell to 6.5 percent.  Among the 722,000 unemployed veterans, 60 percent were 45 years old and over; 35 percent were 25-44, and 5 percent were 18-24. (Tables A, 2A.) 
• Number of Veterans by Period of Service.  The country's 21.4 million veterans were 9 percent of the civilian non-institutional population 18 and over. Veterans are more likely than nonveterans to be men and to be older than nonveterans, partly because veterans who served during World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam era account for nearly one-half (9.8 million) of all veterans, and only men were drafted. More than one-fourth of veterans (6.1 million) served during the Gulf War era. Another one-fourth (5.5 million) served outside the designated wartime periods. (Table 1.) 
• Variation by State. The unemployment rate of veterans varied by state from above 10 percent in Michigan and New Jersey to below 4 percent in Delaware, Iowa, North Dakota, Vermont, and Virginia. (Table 6A.) 
• Gulf War II Veterans.  Of the nation's veterans, 2.8 million served during Gulf War era II. Of them, 20 percent were women, compared with 4 percent of veterans from World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam era. More than half of Gulf War II veterans were aged 25-34.  Among Gulf War II veterans, the unemployment rates for men (8.8 percent) and women (9.6 percent) were not statistically different from the prior year (9.5 percent and 12.5 percent). Among women, the unemployment rate for Gulf War II veterans (9.6 percent) was higher than the rate for nonveterans (6.8 percent).  The unemployment rate for male Gulf War II veterans (8.8 percent) was higher than the rate for male nonveterans (7.5 percent) in 2013. (Tables A,1, 2A, 2C.)
• Unemployment by Age among Gulf War II Veterans. The unemployment rates differed by age. Male Gulf War II veterans18-24 had a higher unemployment rate, 24.3 percent, than male nonveterans of the same age group, 15.8 percent. For those 25-34, male veterans also had a higher rate, 9.2 percent, than male nonveterans, 7.5 percent. For men 35 and older, unemployment rates were little different for Gulf War II veterans and nonveterans. (Table 2B.) 
• Occupations of Gulf War II Veterans. Veterans of Gulf War II and nonveterans had similar occupations in 2013 after accounting for gender. About one-third of the employed men in both groups worked in management and professional occupations, a higher proportion than in any other major occupational group. Among employed women, more than 40 percent of Gulf War II veterans and nonveterans worked in management and professional occupations.  A higher proportion of employed Gulf War II veterans worked in the public sector in 2013, 28 percent, than employed nonveterans, 14 percent. The federal government employed 16 percent of Gulf War II veterans, eight times the share (2 percent) of employed nonveterans. Of Gulf War II veterans, 40 percent reported serving in Iraq or Afghanistan. These veterans had an unemployment rate of 10.2 percent, little different from Gulf War II veterans who served elsewhere (10.9 percent). (Tables 4, 5, 10.) 
• Gulf War I Veterans.  For the 3.2 million veterans who served during Gulf War I (August 1990 to August 2001), the proportion that were women (19 percent) was similar to that of Gulf War II veterans. Almost all Gulf War I veterans were age 35 and over (91 percent) in 2013, compared with 41 percent of Gulf War II veterans. In 2013, the unemployment rates for male and female Gulf War I veterans were 5.7 percent and 5.3 percent, respectively, lower than the rates for their Gulf War II veteran counterparts (8.8 percent and 9.6 percent, respectively). These differences in the unemployment rates reflect, at least in part, the older age profile of veterans who served during Gulf War I. Younger workers, veterans or nonveterans, are more likely to be unemployed than older workers. Unemployment rates of Gulf War I veterans were little different from their nonveteran counterparts of the same age and gender groups. (Tables 1, 2A, 2B, 2C.) 
• Veterans of World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam Era.  Of all veterans, 9.8 million served during World War II, the Korean War, or the Vietnam era. All of them were at least 55 years old, and more than 70 percent were at least 65 years old. Nearly all (96 percent) of these veterans were men. In 2013, 30.0 percent of male veterans of these wartime periods were in the labor force, and their unemployment rate was 6.5 percent. Male veterans of these wartime periods had lower labor force participation rates than did male nonveterans in the same age categories. (Tables 1, 2B.) 
• Veterans of Other (Non-War) Service Periods.  A total of 5.5 million veterans served on active duty during "other service periods," mainly between the Korean War and the Vietnam era, and between the Vietnam era and Gulf War I. This group is concentrated in two age ranges - 38 percent were 45-54 and another 38 percent were 65 years and over, for a total of 76 percent. Men account for 9 in 10 veterans of "other service periods". Among most age groups, male veterans of service periods between the designated wartime periods had unemployment rates that were little different than those of male nonveterans. (Tables 1, 2A, 2B.)
• Disabled Veterans. About 3.2 million veterans, or 15 percent,  reported a service-connected disability. The rate was nearly twice the overall rate, 29 percent, for Gulf War II veterans. Veterans with a service-connected disability had an unemployment rate of 6.2 percent, little different from the rate for veterans with no disability (6.6 percent). One in three employed veterans with a service-connected disability worked in the public sector, a higher share than veterans with no disability, for whom the ratio was one in five. Regardless of period of service, 31 percent of employed veterans with a disability worked in federal, state, or local government, much higher than the 19 percent of veterans with no disability and 13 percent of nonveterans. The federal government employed 19 percent of veterans with a disability, nearly three times the rate, 7 percent, of veterans with no disability, and 2 percent of employed nonveterans. (Tables 7, 8.) 
• Disabled Veterans by Severity of Disability.  Veterans with a service-connected disability are assigned a disability rating from 0 to 100 percent, in increments of 10 percentage points, depending on the severity of the condition. Among veterans with a service-connected disability, 35 percent reported a disability rating below 30 percent, while about 3 in 10 had a rating of 60 percent or higher. Veterans with a service-connected disability rating below 30 percent (i.e., 56 percent of all veterans) were nearly twice as likely to be in the labor force as those with a rating of 60 percent or higher (i.e., 28.9 percent of veterans). 
• Employment and Unemployment among Disabled Veterans. Of Gulf War II veterans with a service-connected disability, 70.5 percent were in the labor force, lower than the labor force participation rate of 85.4 percent for veterans from this period with no service-connected disability. Among Gulf War II veterans, the unemployment rate of those with a disability was 8.6 percent, not statistically different from those with no disability (11.1 percent). Nearly 20 percent (589,000) of veterans who served during Gulf War I reported a service-connected disability. Their labor force participation rate (71.3 percent) was lower than the rate for veterans from the era who did not have a disability (86.8 percent). Unemployment rates for Gulf War I veterans with service-connected disabilities, 4.1 percent, was not  statistically different from that of those without, 6.5 percent. Among the 1.3 million veterans with a service-connected disability from World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam eras, 16.8 percent were in the labor force, compared with 30.3 percent of veterans from these periods without. The unemployment rate of veterans with a disability from these wartime periods was 7.6 percent, not statistically different from their counterparts with no disability (5.3 percent). Veterans with a service-connected disability from other service periods had a labor force participation rate of 55.5 percent, below the 56.2 percent for veterans with no disability from these periods. Among veterans from other service periods, the unemployment rates of those with service-connected disabilities was 2.7 percent, not statistically different from the 5.3 percent for other veterans. (Tables 7, 8.)
• Unemployment among Reserve or National Guard Members. Nearly 30 percent of Gulf War veterans were reported to be current or past members of the Reserve or National Guard. Unemployment rates were similar for those veterans compared with other veterans. Among Gulf War II veterans, those who were current or past members of the Reserve or National Guard had an 85.4 labor force participation rate, higher than the 77.4 percent rate for those who had never been members. For veterans of Gulf War I, labor force participation rates were similar for members and nonmembers. (Table 9.)

For links to all the original data by table, with full definitions and sources, go here.

Where Veterans Are Concentrated

Returning from active duty. Now what?

I have been working with Alex Hecht at the Warrior Family Foundation on some data to help veterans' organizations prioritize their focus and timing on rolling out innovative programs.

The first criterion we thought of was the metro areas with the most veterans. On that basis, the New York City area ranks #1, with the most veterans of any other metro area.

But as a percentage of the area population, New York and Los Angeles rank 10th and 9th out of 10. Washington, DC has the highest percentage of veterans, 9.6 percent, exactly double the percentages for New York and Los Angeles. The Atlanta area is not far behind, with 8.6 percent. (See Table 1.)

Table 1. Number of Veterans and Percent of Population, 10 Most Populous Metro Areas

Rank	Metro Statistical Area (MSA)	Pop	Vets	Percent
1	New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA	14,482	699.6	4.83
2	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CA	9,680	462.9	4.78
3	Chicago-Joliet-Naperville, IL-IN-WI	7,018	445.8	6.35
4	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	4,650	369.2	7.94
5	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	4,479	372.9	8.32
6	Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL	4,401	256.2	5.82
7	Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX	4,343	299.4	6.89
8	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	4,242	408.2	9.62
9	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, GA	3,881	334.8	8.63
10	Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH	3,478	251.6	7.24
	Total	60,652	3,900.6	6.43

If we pick the MSAs based on total population and use 500,000 as the cutoff, the top ten MSAs for veteran concentration are led by the Virginia Beach MSA, with 17.1 percent, followed by the North Port, FL MSA. (See Table 2).

                Table 2. Top 10 MSAs for Veterans that have a Population over 500,000

	Metro Area	Veterans as percent of total population	Number of veterans
1	Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC	17.17%	211,933
2	North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota, FL	14.57%	86,437
3	Jacksonville, FL	13.61%	142,461
4	Charleston-North Charleston-Summerville, SC	12.78%	67,762
5	San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX Metro Area	12.37%	202,069
6	Tucson, AZ Metro Area	12.23%	93,442
7	Honolulu, HI Metro Area	12.03%	87,715
8	Albuquerque, NM Metro Area	11.86%	81,002
9	Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL Metro Area	11.79%	61,530
10	Columbia, SC Metro Area	11.65%	68,614

Here are some comments on the first two tables:

1. Veterans like to stay near bases. This is often the best place to get a civilian job. It is also a way of staying in touch with friends and of taking advantage of free programs such as training, cultural activities and base shopping. Veterans’ organizations are likely to have chapters tied to bases, where they recruit new members.

2. Veterans like warm weather. Southern locations are favored.

3. The numbers don't include active duty personnel and dependents. In the Virginia Beach metro area, if active-duty personnel and dependents are included, the share of the population accounted for by military families could rise from one out of five to one out of three.

The concentrations of veterans become even more pronounced at the county level. Of the 589 counties that include more than 100,000 residents, 14 of the top 20 are concentrated in just four states – Florida, with seven counties represented, Texas with three, and Virginia and North Carolina both with two counties.

Veterans make up 18.5 percent of the population of Citrus County, FL, which is the home of several Air Force locations and sites. (See Table 3.)

Table 3. Top 20 counties with more than 100,000 residents*

	County	Veterans as % of total pop.	Number of veterans
1	Citrus, FL	18.46%	25,730
2	Okaloosa, FL	16.78%	31,890
3	Cochise, AZ	16.74%	22,106
4	Stafford, VA	16.13%	21,674
5	Hampton Roads, VA**	15.44%	191,261
6	Kitsap, WA	15.01%	38,269
7	Hardin, KY	14.55%	15,568
8	Clay, FL	14.38%	27,955
9	Bell, TX	14.33%	46,288
10	Comanche, OK	14.26%	18,019
11	Cumberland, NC	14.23%	46,114
12	Santa Rosa, FL	14.16%	22,440
13	Houston, GA	14.00%	20,466
14	Sumter, FL	13.85%	14,071
15	Montgomery, TN	13.73%	25,331
16	Marion, FL	13.67%	45,806
17	Guadalupe, TX	13.59%	19,005
18	Escambia, FL	13.51%	40,899
19	Onslow, NC	13.40%	24,560
20	Comal, TX	13.04%	14,920

*Rank is out of the 589 U.S. counties that include more than 100,000 residents. Data are for 2012, projected from 2010 Census data, while the population data for each county are from the 2012 America Community Survey.

**The adjacent independent cities of Newport News, Hampton, Norfolk, Virginia Beach and Chesapeake (collectively known as Hampton Roads) are combined.

Finally, what do we get when we look through the other end of the telescope? Where are the smallest concentrations of veterans? Answer: In big cities.

                    Table  4. Bottom 20 counties with over 100,000 residents*

	County	Veterans as percent of total population	Number of veterans
1	Kings, NY (Brooklyn)	2.12%	54,414
2	Miami-Dade, FL	2.45%	63,517
3	New York, NY (Manhattan)	2.46%	39,760
4	Webb, TX	2.49%	6,450
5	Hudson, NJ	2.51%	16,364
6	Queens, NY	2.57%	58,351
7	Bronx, NY	2.58%	36,327
8	Hidalgo, TX	2.89%	23,332
9	San Francisco, CA	3.19%	26,336
10	Los Angeles, CA	3.21%	319,623
11	Suffolk, MA	3.25%	24,201
12	Santa Clara, CA	3.35%	61,596
13	Essex, NJ	3.48%	27,410
14	Rockland, NY	3.48%	11,073
15	Utah, UT	3.49%	18,888
16	Passaic, NJ	3.61%	18,170
17	Westchester, NY	3.75%	36,076
18	Union, NJ	3.75%	20,424
19	Bergen, NJ	3.86%	35,483
20	Alameda, CA	3.88%	60,309

*Rank is out of the 589 U.S. counties that include more than 100,000 residents. See first note to Table 3.