May 2010

Employment Situation of Veterans — Spotlight on Veterans:
Chart Data

Veterans by Period of Service

Period of service Percent distribution

Gulf War-era II veterans

 8.7

Gulf War-era I veterans

 13.1

WWII, Korean War, Vietnam era

 51.3

Other service periods

 26.8

Source: Current Population Survey, annual averages 2009 | Chart

NOTE: Gulf War-era II veterans served anywhere on active duty since September 2001. Gulf War-era I veterans served anywhere between August 1990 and August 2001.

 

Unemployment Rates by Period of Service

Unemployment rate
Period of service Unemployment rate

Nonveterans

 9.1

Veterans, all service periods

 8.1

Gulf War era II

 10.2

Gulf War era I

 7.6

WWII, Korean War, and Vietnam era

 7.5

Other service periods

 8.3

Source: Current Population Survey, annual averages 2009 | Chart

 

Unemployment Rates of Male Veterans and Nonveterans Ages 20 and over

Male veterans Male nonveterans

2000

 2.8 3.4

2001

 3.5 4.3

2002

 4.7 5.4

2003

 5.0 5.8

2004

 4.5 5.1

2005

 3.8 4.6

2006

 3.7 4.1

2007

 3.7 4.2

2008

 4.5 5.6

2009

 8.1 9.8

Source: Current Population Survey, annual averages 2000-09 | Chart

 

Unemployment Rates of Male Veterans and Nonveterans by Age

18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+

Male veterans

 21.6 11.2 7.3 8.5 7.2 6.6

Male nonveterans

 19.1 10.9 8.8 8.2 7.2 6.6

Source: Current Population Survey, annual averages 2009 | Chart

 

Unemployment Rates of Female Veterans and Nonveterans by Age

18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64

Female veterans

 19.2 10.3 7.3 6.3 7.0

Female nonveterans

 13.9 8.6 7.1 6.0 6.0

Source: Current Population Survey, annual averages 2009 | Chart

NOTE: The unemployment rates of female veterans and nonveterans 18-24 years old are not statistically different due to the small sample size of female veterans 18-24 years old. Estimates with small sample sizes have large standard errors. The unemployment rate for female veterans 65 years and over does not meet publication standards because of the small sample size.

 

Labor Market Activity of Young Veterans

Percent of veterans ages 18 to 24 in 1998-2008
Number of months since separation from the Armed Forces Employed Unemployed Not in the labor force

1

 42.2 23.8 34.0

2

 51.0 21.6 27.4

3

 58.4 18.6 23.0

4

 60.5 15.9 23.6

5

 65.4 14.9 19.7

6

 65.1 12.5 22.3

7

 69.9 11.2 18.9

8

 68.6 11.3 20.1

9

 69.5 11.9 18.6

10

 71.7 11.2 17.1

11

 74.8 10.0 15.2

12

 78.6 8.7 12.7

13

 79.4 7.5 13.0

14

 78.4 7.5 14.1

15

 75.8 7.2 17.0

16

 78.3 7.6 14.1

17

 75.5 8.1 16.3

18

 79.0 6.0 15.0

19

 76.6 9.9 13.5

20

 80.9 6.4 12.8

21

 82.0 7.1 10.9

22

 80.8 7.0 12.2

23

 82.5 4.9 12.5

24

 84.0 5.6 10.4

Source: National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 | Chart

 

College Enrollment of Young Veterans

Percent of veterans ages 18 to 24 in 1998-2008
Month Since Separation Enrolled in college

1

 15.0

2

 16.6

3

 19.0

4

 21.3

5

 22.3

6

 20.6

7

 18.4

8

 17.3

9

 18.4

10

 17.5

11

 17.8

12

 20.2

13

 20.9

14

 21.2

15

 21.7

16

 23.8

17

 24.4

18

 22.8

19

 22.1

20

 23.4

21

 23.1

22

 24.1

23

 23.5

24

 24.9

Source: National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 | Chart

 

Educational Attainment by Veteran Status

Percent distribution
Veteran status Less than a high school diploma High school graduate, no college Some college or associate degree College graduate

Nonveterans

 14.3 30.8 27.6 27.2

Veterans

 7.4 32.7 32.8 27.1

Gulf War-era II veterans

 1.5 29.2 45.9 23.4

Gulf War-era I veterans

 1.5 28.0 41.4 29.1

WWII, Korean War and Vietnam-era veterans

 10.2 32.3 28.9 28.6

Source: Current Population Survey, annual averages 2009 | Chart

 

Occupations of Veterans

Employed veterans and nonveterans by occupation
Occupation Veterans Nonveterans

Professional and related

 19.2 22.4

Management, business, and financial

 18.4 15.3

Sales and office

 17.5 24.6

Production, transportation, and material moving

 16.7 11.0

Natural resources and construction

 7.4 5.9

Service, except protective

 7.3 15.6

Installation, maintenance, and repair

 7.2 3.3

Protective service

 6.4 1.9

Source: Current Population Survey, annual averages 2009 | Chart

 

Employment by Disability Status

Proportion of veterans who were employed by service-connected disability status
Disability status Employed as a percent of veteran population that served sometime since August 1990

Disabled, total

 70.7

Less than 30 percent disabled

 77.3

30 to 50 percent disabled

 75.7

60 percent disabled or higher

 55.8

Not disabled

 81.9

Source: Current Population Survey, August 2009 veterans supplement | Chart

 

Where Veterans Work

Distribution of the employed by category of worker and service-connected disability status
Category of worker Nonveterans Nondisabled veterans Disabled veterans

Private nonagricultural wage and salary workers

 77.5 68.9 61.1

Federal government workers

 2.1 7.6 19.9

State and local government workers

 12.2 13.8 12.4

Other workers

 8.1 9.8 6.6

Source: Current Population Survey, August 2009 veterans supplement | Chart

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