Veteran Unemployment Rate 6.3% in November
In November 2020, the veteran unemployment rate was 6.3%, up from 5.9% last month. The comparable non-veteran unemployment rate was 6.6% in November.
View the full report:
Veteran Seasonally Adjusted Unemployment Rates
Seasonally and Non-Seasonally Adjusted Data
Historically, we have referenced the non-seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for veterans. However, beginning July 2019, the Bureau of Labor Statistics began publishing the seasonally adjusted veteran unemployment rate. This adjustment accounts for any predictable seasonal patterns in the data and allows for better month-to-month comparisons; we will utilize this data series going forward.
The full seasonally adjusted veteran unemployment rate series going back to 2003 is available here: Veteran Seasonally Adjusted Unemployment Rates. If you are interested in the non-seasonally adjusted data, that is still available here: Non-Seasonally Adjusted Data.
Data
Employment Situation of Veterans – 2019
In 2019, the veteran unemployment rate was 3.1% (the lowest in 19 years). Read the full report.
Some highlights from the 2019 report include:
- The unemployment rate for male veterans declined to 3.0 percent in 2019, and the rate for female veterans (3.7 percent) changed little over the year.
- Among the 284,000 unemployed veterans in 2019, 56 percent were ages 25 to 54, 39 percent were age 55 and over, and 5 were ages 18 to 24.
- Veterans with a service-connected disability had an unemployment rate of 4.8 percent in August 2019, not statistically different from the rate for veterans with no disability.
- In August 2019, 31 percent of employed veterans with a service-connected disability worked in the public sector, compared with 17 percent of veterans with no disability and 13 percent of nonveterans.
- In 2019, the unemployment rate of veterans varied across the country, ranging from 0.9 percent in Maryland to 6.1 percent in Montana.