Jobless rates for young and female vets climbed in late 2011
http://dervishcom.blogspot.com/2012/01/jobless-rates-for-young-and-female-vets.html
Growing numbers of young and female veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan remain jobless despite an overall decline in unemployment and an infusion of new federal programs aimed at providing them jobs.
One out of three veterans ages 18 to 24 were without work the last quarter of 2011, double the rate of civilian peers, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. One in five young veterans were without work in the last quarter of 2010.
Nearly 22% of female veterans — or an estimated 50,00 women — who served during both wars were unemployed in December, according to the data. The jobless rates for Iraq and Afghanistan female veterans in the first through fourth quarters last year were 9.8%, 8.6%, 11.3% and 16.8%, respectively.
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STORY: Analysts: Jobless numbers good for Obama but work remains
"In November and December these (unemployment figures) really shot up," says Adriana Kugler, chief economist for the Department of Labor. "Certainly something happened."
Economists blame the high joblessness among young veterans on the lack of acquiring marketable civilian skills. "(These) veterans are facing a labor market that is not as forgiving in what they may lack in job experience. They've got the military experience, but that doesn't translate," says Jim Borbely, an economist with the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The issue for women is more complicated. Kugler says their joblessness could be merely a severe fluctuation.
But she and Borbely note that female veterans historically gravitate to work in areas now experiencing severe cutbacks such as education and the public sector. This might account for their high unemployment, Borbely says.
Many may also be drawing unemployment compensation as they begin using federal assistance to go to college, he says.
Joblessness among all Iraq- and Afghanistan-era veterans remains stubbornly higher than the national average. December figures were 13.1% among this veteran group, compared with the nation's 8.5% unemployment rate. An estimated 248,000 of these veterans are without work, the Bureau of Labor Statistics says.
"The spike in new veteran unemployment should be a serious wake-up call for the country," says Paul Rieckhoff, executive director of Iraq & Afghanistan Veterans of America. "The tide of war might be receding, but the surge home is just really beginning."
Unemployment payments to Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, meanwhile, have skyrocketed since the 2007-2009 recession from $452 million spent in fiscal 2008 to $940 million in fiscal 2011, according to the Department of Labor.
Economists fear the unemployment problem could grow worse with Pentagon plans to reduce the size of the Army and Marine Corps in the years ahead, unless the job market continues to improve.
The persistent struggle to find them jobs triggered several new federal initiatives, including a "Hire a Veteran" bill signed by President Obama in November, which provides job training and tax credits to businesses that hire veterans.
"Too often (young veterans) don't understand the vernacular of the working world or don't know how their skills translate onto a résumé," said Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), chairwoman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee who pushed for the new legislation. She said the new law "will require the military to give each and every separating service member tools to help them bring the skills they learned in the field into the working world."
Kugler says that employer tax credits have been shown to work in the past. "Obviously for that, you need for jobs to be created," she says.
One out of three veterans ages 18 to 24 were without work the last quarter of 2011, double the rate of civilian peers, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. One in five young veterans were without work in the last quarter of 2010.
Nearly 22% of female veterans — or an estimated 50,00 women — who served during both wars were unemployed in December, according to the data. The jobless rates for Iraq and Afghanistan female veterans in the first through fourth quarters last year were 9.8%, 8.6%, 11.3% and 16.8%, respectively.
*
STORY: Analysts: Jobless numbers good for Obama but work remains
"In November and December these (unemployment figures) really shot up," says Adriana Kugler, chief economist for the Department of Labor. "Certainly something happened."
Economists blame the high joblessness among young veterans on the lack of acquiring marketable civilian skills. "(These) veterans are facing a labor market that is not as forgiving in what they may lack in job experience. They've got the military experience, but that doesn't translate," says Jim Borbely, an economist with the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The issue for women is more complicated. Kugler says their joblessness could be merely a severe fluctuation.
But she and Borbely note that female veterans historically gravitate to work in areas now experiencing severe cutbacks such as education and the public sector. This might account for their high unemployment, Borbely says.
Many may also be drawing unemployment compensation as they begin using federal assistance to go to college, he says.
Joblessness among all Iraq- and Afghanistan-era veterans remains stubbornly higher than the national average. December figures were 13.1% among this veteran group, compared with the nation's 8.5% unemployment rate. An estimated 248,000 of these veterans are without work, the Bureau of Labor Statistics says.
"The spike in new veteran unemployment should be a serious wake-up call for the country," says Paul Rieckhoff, executive director of Iraq & Afghanistan Veterans of America. "The tide of war might be receding, but the surge home is just really beginning."
Unemployment payments to Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, meanwhile, have skyrocketed since the 2007-2009 recession from $452 million spent in fiscal 2008 to $940 million in fiscal 2011, according to the Department of Labor.
Economists fear the unemployment problem could grow worse with Pentagon plans to reduce the size of the Army and Marine Corps in the years ahead, unless the job market continues to improve.
The persistent struggle to find them jobs triggered several new federal initiatives, including a "Hire a Veteran" bill signed by President Obama in November, which provides job training and tax credits to businesses that hire veterans.
"Too often (young veterans) don't understand the vernacular of the working world or don't know how their skills translate onto a résumé," said Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), chairwoman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee who pushed for the new legislation. She said the new law "will require the military to give each and every separating service member tools to help them bring the skills they learned in the field into the working world."
Kugler says that employer tax credits have been shown to work in the past. "Obviously for that, you need for jobs to be created," she says.
