Veterans Finding Job Search Difficult
November 21, 2006
Some members of the U.S. military are finding the transition back to the civilian workforce difficult after a combat deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan. Even though certain laws protect jobs held by National Guardsmen and reservists while serving on active duty, the number of unemployed veterans is growing — and many are unable to find jobs despite having valuable skills.
In 2005, the U.S. Department of Labor reported that Gulf War veterans between the ages of 18-24 years of age had an unemployment rate of 18.7 percent — compared to 10.4 percent for non-veterans in that age group. The unemployment rate for all veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces was 3.9 percent, lower than the national rate of 4.4 percent. Read the VOA article here.