The U.S. jobs report for November, recently released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, showed a large increase in the country's payroll. This growth positively impacted the employment situation for post-9/11 veterans, a demographic whose jobless rates have been high in recent years.
According to Military Times, the unemployment rate for veterans of recent wars fell to 5.7 percent for November, which is .1 percent below the national average. This number fell significantly since October, when it was at 7.2 percent. While this leap is a dramatically positive expansion, an upward trend has been going on in this demographic for the past 12 months. At the beginning of 2014, the post-9/11 veteran unemployment rate exceeded 9 percent. By May, it hit a historic low of 5.3 percent. Though it went up slightly during the summer, its recent improvement shows signs of future hiring increases.
The unemployment rate for this group of former servicemembers is higher than the overall average of veteran joblessness. Currently, 4.5 percent of all veterans are looking for work in their life after service. A variety of social and economical factors affect these young veterans' ability to find a job, noted U.S. News & World Report.
"While more must still be done to help these veterans find work, progress has been made. The unemployment rate for post-9/11 veterans has been cut by more than 4 percentage points from its peak," wrote Jason Furman for the White House Blog.