Veterans unemployment rates

Air Force (and the other) Times reports:

The unemployment rate for veterans rose slightly in June, to 8 percent overall and 11.5 percent for Iraq and Afghanistan-era veterans, a sign that expanding programs aimed at helping veterans find work are not working in a stagnant job market. June employment statistics released Friday by the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics show the overall unemployment rate for veterans rose slightly from 7.8 percent in May. Still, the unemployment rate for veterans remains lower than the overall national rate of 9.5 percent.

For military justice practitioners I think it’s useful to think of these numbers as an additional bad sign for those leaving active duty under less than honorable discharge circumstances.

The Air Force Times also reports:

Married to a second lieutenant, the woman couldn’t help herself. She vented. She gave up a good civil service job and her husband was a staff sergeant, steadily climbing the enlisted ranks, when they decided he should go to Officer Training School. He excelled. She pinned on his bars in December. Now, he’s out of a job, one of 28 junior officers getting kicked out because they either haven’t started their initial skills training course or didn’t finish the training. By year’s end, the service will cut 6,000 airmen — enlisted and officer — because so few are leaving on their own due to the recession. The number of officers, second lieutenants to colonels, targeted for discharge is 1,373.

Note the reference to the job market.