On March 24, 2015, the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released unemployment numbers showing that the 2014 unemployment rate among military veterans dropped to its lowest point since 2008. Employers’ recognition of the strengths that veterans bring to the workforce is at least one factor for this drop in unemployment. 
Numbers continue to improve
Of the 21.2 million veterans identified by BLS, 10.2 million were employed; 573,000 were unemployed; and the rest, 10.5 million, were neither employed nor seeking employment and thus were not in the labor force. Results from the BLS’s November 2014 data that showed post-9/11 veterans, in particular, or veterans overall struggling to find work more than the general workforce have not changed, although the jobless rate has declined even for that segment.
Only 5.3% of veterans were jobless last year, representing a drop of 1.3% from 2013 and the fourth consecutive year of improvement in veterans’ rate of employment. The unemployment rate for male veterans declined to 5.2% in 2014, compared to the rate of 6.2% for male nonveterans. The rate for female veterans, at 6%, was higher than for male veterans, but still lower than in the past. The unemployment rate for female nonveterans was 5.9%. Interestingly, approximately 33% of the federal government’s new hires are military veterans.
Gulf War-era II veterans
Gulf War-era II veterans are those who served in the U.S. armed forces at any time since September 2001. The unemployment rate for Gulf War-era II veterans dropped 1.8 percentage points, from 9% in 2013 to 7.2% in 2014.
The unemployment rate for male Gulf War-era II veterans declined from 8.8% in 2013 to 6.9% in 2014; the unemployment rate for women (8.5%) wasn’t statistically different from the previous year (9.6%). The 6.4% unemployment rate for white Gulf War-era II veterans was lower than the rate for black veterans (9.5%).
Gulf War-era I veterans
Gulf War-era I veterans are those who served between August 1990 and August 2001. Gulf War-era I veterans of both genders had lower unemployment rates than Gulf War-era II veterans. The differences reflect, at least in part, the older age of these veterans. Younger people usually have higher unemployment rates, regardless of their veteran status. In 2014, the unemployment rate for male Gulf War-era I veterans was 4%; for female veterans, it was 5.2%.
BLS concluded that the unemployment rates of Gulf War-era I veterans varied little across the major race and Hispanic ethnicity groups. The unemployment rate for Asian Gulf War-era I veterans was 2.8%, the rate for white veterans was 4%, and the rate for African-American veterans was 4.2%. The jobless rate for Hispanic or Latino Gulf War-era I veterans was 5%.
World War-era II, Korean War-era, and Vietnam-era veterans
All veterans who served during World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam era were 55 years old or older in 2014, with about three-fourths of them being at least 65. Nearly all of them are men. In 2014, the unemployment rate of the male veterans of these wars was 5%; the rate for their female counterparts was 5.4%. (See sidebar.)
Survey of veterans and employers
In a survey focusing on recently separated veterans and active troops taken last fall, two-thirds of the veterans responding reported that communicating their military skills in ways that employers can understand and utilize was their top challenge. However, only 13%, compared to 26% in the previous year, stated that they lack confidence in finding work.
Employers responding to the survey listed, in descending order, the top five skills that veterans bring to civilian jobs: self-discipline, teamwork, attention to detail, respect, and leadership. Some two-thirds of the employers said that veterans often are more qualified to fill certain jobs because of those skills.