Post-9/11 Vet Unemployment Rate Continues to Fall

by Lauren Bailey

On Friday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released Veteran unemployment data for the month of September. The unemployment rate for all Veterans was 6.7 percent—more than a full percentage point lower than the national average of 7.8 percent, which is the lowest overall unemployment rate since January 2009.  For post-9/11 veterans, the rate fell to 9.7 percent.  While there is more work to do, it is very clear that the unemployment rate among all Veterans—to include America’s newest Veterans—is headed in the right direction. The charts below help us see why.

In the first, we see the monthly unemployment rate for all Veterans since January 2010.  The trend is clearly downward.

Because chunks of data are often better indicators of real movement, another way to view the trend is by looking at the moving (or rolling) average. Like the chart above, the chart immediately below captures 12-month averages for the periods ending each month since January 2010. What it shows is a modest—but definitive—decline in the unemployment rate of Veterans.  The current 12-month average unemployment for Veterans is 7.3 percent—and this is the lowest figure we’ve seen during this administration.

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