July 28, 2004 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Occupational employment of veterans

There were 23.7 million veterans (men and women) in the civilian non-institutional population as of August 2003.

[Chart data—TXT]

Among women, around three-fourths of veterans as well as non-veterans worked in two major job categories: management and professional occupations, and sales and office occupations.

The employment distribution for male veterans and nonveterans was very similar. About 90 percent of male veterans were employed in four of the five major occupational categories: management and professional occupations; production, transportation, and material moving occupations; sales and office occupations; and natural resources, construction, and maintenance occupations.

The Current Population Survey is the source of these data. To learn more, see Employment Situation of Veterans: August 2003 (PDF) (TXT), USDL 04-1378. The survey of veterans was conducted for the Bureau of Labor Statistics by the U.S. Census Bureau as a special supplement to the August 2003 Current Population Survey. The 2003 supplement was co-sponsored by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the U.S. Department of Labor's Veterans Employment and Training Service. These supplements have been conducted every two years since 1985.