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Economic News Release
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Employment Situation of Veterans Summary

For release 10:00 a.m. (ET) Wednesday, March 20, 2024              	           USDL-24-0544

Technical information:  (202) 691-6378  *  cpsinfo@bls.gov  *  www.bls.gov/cps  
Media contact:          (202) 691-5902  *  PressOffice@bls.gov


                        EMPLOYMENT SITUATION OF VETERANS -- 2023


The unemployment rate for veterans who served on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces at any
time since September 2001--a group referred to as Gulf War-era II veterans--was little changed
at 3.3 percent in 2023 and the rate for all veterans was unchanged at 2.8 percent, the U.S.
Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. In August 2023, 46 percent of Gulf War-era II
veterans had a service-connected disability, compared with 30 percent of all veterans. 

This information was obtained from the Current Population Survey (CPS), a monthly sample survey
of about 60,000 eligible households that provides data on employment, unemployment, and persons
not in the labor force in the United States. Data about veterans are collected monthly in the
CPS; these monthly data are the source of the 2023 annual averages presented in this news
release. In August 2023, a supplement to the CPS collected additional information about 
veterans on topics such as service-connected disability and veterans' current or past Reserve
or National Guard membership. The 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.
For more information, see the Technical Note in this news release. 

Highlights from the 2023 data:

 --The unemployment rate for all veterans (2.8 percent) was lower than the rate for nonveterans
   (3.6 percent) in 2023. (See table A.)

 --The unemployment rate for male veterans (2.7 percent) was lower than for female veterans 
   (3.2 percent) in 2023. Both measures were little changed over the year. (See table A.)

 --Unemployment rates for White, Black, and Hispanic veterans were lower than for nonveterans
   in 2023, while the rate for Asian veterans was not statistically different than their
   nonveteran counterparts. (See table 1.)

 --Among the 241,000 unemployed veterans in 2023, 60 percent were ages 25 to 54, 34 percent
   were age 55 and over, and 6 percent were ages 18 to 24. (See table 2A.)

 --In August 2023, the unemployment rate of Gulf War-era II veterans with a service-connected
   disability rose by 3.0 percentage points over the year to 6.4 percent, and the rate for
   veterans without a service-connected disability increased by 2.1 percentage points to 4.0
   percent. (See table 7.)

 --Gulf War-era II veterans who reported a service-connected disability rating of less than
   30 percent in August 2023 were much more likely to be in the labor force than those with 
   a rating of 60 percent or higher (83.0 percent versus 67.9 percent). (See table 7.)

 --In August 2023, 31.4 percent of employed veterans with a service-connected disability 
   worked in the public sector, compared with 20.0 percent of veterans with no disability and
   12.5 percent of nonveterans. (See table 8.)

The Veteran Population

In 2023, 17.9 million men and women were veterans, accounting for about 7 percent of the
civilian noninstitutional population age 18 and over. Of all veterans, about 11 percent were
women. In the survey, veterans are defined as men and women who have previously served on
active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces and who were civilians at the time these data were 
collected. 

Veterans are much more likely to be men than are nonveterans, and they also tend to be older.
In part, this reflects the characteristics of veterans who served during World War II, the
Korean War, and the Vietnam era, all of whom are now over age 65. Veterans who served during
these wartime periods accounted for one-third (6.0 million) of the total veteran population
in 2023. Forty-five percent of veterans (8.0 million) served during Gulf War era I (August
1990 to August 2001) or Gulf War era II (September 2001 to present). Another 22 percent (3.9
million) served outside these designated wartime periods. (See tables 1 and 2A.)

The unemployment rates for veteran men (2.7 percent) and women (3.2 percent) changed little
in 2023. In comparison to nonveteran men and women, the unemployment rate for veteran men was
lower than their nonveteran counterparts, while the rate for veteran women was little
different from that of their nonveteran counterparts. Unemployment rates for White (2.7 
percent), Black (3.3 percent), Asian (2.5 percent), and Hispanic (2.9 percent) veterans were
also little changed over the year and were not statistically different from each other in
2023.

Gulf War-era II Veterans 

In 2023, there were 5.0 million veterans who had served during Gulf War era II (September 2001
to present). Eighteen percent of these veterans were women, compared with about 4 percent of
veterans from World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam era. (See tables 1 and 2A.) 

The unemployment rate for Gulf War-era II veterans was little changed at 3.3 percent in 2023.
Among Gulf War-era II veterans, the unemployment rates for men and women were little changed
over the year and not statistically different from each other (3.2 percent and 3.4 percent,
respectively). (See table A.) 

The unemployment rate for male Gulf War-era II veterans, at 3.2 percent, was lower than the
rate for male nonveterans, at 3.8 percent, in 2023. By age, unemployment rates for male Gulf
War-era II veterans and male nonveterans were not statistically different. (See table 2B.) 

The unemployment rate for female Gulf War-era II veterans, at 3.4 percent, was the same as
the rate for female nonveterans in 2023. By age, unemployment rates for female Gulf War-era
II veterans and nonveterans were not statistically different. (See table 2C.)

Employed Gulf War-era II veteran men were more likely to work in management, professional,
and related occupations (42.4 percent) than were employed nonveteran men (39.8 percent). These
veterans were also more likely to work in service occupations than their nonveteran
counterparts (14.4 percent and 12.7 percent, respectively). Male veterans from Gulf War-era
II were less likely to work in sales and office occupations than their nonveteran counterparts
(11.8 percent and 14.0 percent, respectively) and less likely to work in production, 
transportation, and material moving occupations (15.4 percent and 17.5 percent, respectively).
For women, employed Gulf War-era II veterans were less likely to work in service occupations
than their nonveteran counterparts (14.6 percent and 19.4 percent, respectively). Veteran 
women from this period of service were more likely to work in natural resources, construction,
and maintenance occupations, at 2.3 percent, than nonveteran women at 1.1 percent. (See table
4.)

Employed Gulf War-era II veteran men were more than twice as likely to work in the public
sector in 2023 as their employed nonveteran counterparts--25.7 percent versus 10.2 percent.
Employed female Gulf War-era II veterans were nearly twice as likely to work in the public
sector than nonveteran women--30.3 percent versus 16.2 percent. Overall, among employed Gulf
War-era II veterans, 14.3 percent worked for the federal government, compared with 2.2 percent
of nonveterans. (See table 5.) 

In August 2023, 39 percent of Gulf War-era II veterans reported serving in Iraq, Afghanistan,
or both locations. The unemployment rate for these veterans rose by 2.5 percentage points to
4.8 percent in August 2023. The rate for Gulf War-era II veterans who served elsewhere 
increased by 2.4 percentage points to 4.8 percent in August 2023. (See table 10.)

Gulf War-era I Veterans

In 2023, of the 3.0 million veterans who served during Gulf War era I (August 1990 to August
2001), 15 percent were women. The overall unemployment rate for Gulf War-era I veterans was
2.3 percent in 2023, little changed from the prior year. (See tables 1 and 2A.)

In 2023, the unemployment rate for male Gulf War-era I veterans (2.4 percent) was lower than
that of male Gulf War-era II veterans (3.2 percent). The difference in unemployment rates
reflects, at least in part, the older age profile of veterans who served during Gulf War era
I. Younger people--whether veterans or nonveterans--tend to have higher unemployment rates
than older people. The rate for female Gulf War-era I veterans (2.1 percent) was not 
statistically different than the rate for female Gulf War-era II veterans (3.4 percent). (See
tables 2B and 2C.)

Veterans of Other Service Periods 

In 2023, 3.9 million veterans had served on active duty during "other service periods,"mainly
between the Korean War and the Vietnam era and between the Vietnam era and Gulf War era I. In
2023, about 1 in 10 veterans of other service periods were women. (See tables 1 and 2C.) 

The jobless rate for veterans of other service periods, at 2.4 percent, changed little in 2023.
Among these veterans, the unemployment rate for Black or African Americans declined by 2.4
percentage points to 2.0 percent. All other major demographic groups of these veterans showed
little change over the year. (See table 1.)

Veterans with a Service-connected Disability

In August 2023, 5.3 million veterans, or 30 percent of all veterans, had a service-connected
disability. Veterans with a service-connected disability are assigned a disability rating by
the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs or the U.S. Department of Defense. Ratings range from
0 to 100 percent, in increments of 10 percentage points, depending on the severity of the
condition. (See table 7.) 

Over the year, the unemployment rate for veterans with a service-connected disability rose by
2.4 percentage points to 6.0 percent in August 2023. The rate for veterans with no service-
connected disability changed little, at 3.1 percent, and was lower than the rate for veterans
with a service-connected disability. The unemployment rate for male veterans with a service-
connected disability (4.8 percent) changed little over the year. By contrast, the rate for 
female veterans with a service-connected disability, which tends to show more variability, 
rose by 9.1 percentage points to 12.3 percent. 

Among veterans with a service-connected disability in August 2023, 20 percent had a disability
rating of less than 30 percent, while 56 percent had a rating of 60 percent or higher. 
Veterans with a service-connected disability rating of less than 30 percent were more likely
to be in the labor force than those with a rating of 60 percent or higher (56.3 percent versus
46.3 percent). The unemployment rate for veterans with a disability rating of less than 30
percent was 8.9 percent, not statistically different than the rate for those with a disability
rating of 60 percent or higher, at 5.7 percent.

In August 2023, 46 percent (2.4 million) of veterans who served during Gulf War era II
reported a service-connected disability. The labor force participation rate of Gulf War-era
II veterans with a service-connected disability (73.0 percent) was much lower than the rate
for veterans from this period with no service-connected disability (86.8 percent). Among Gulf
War-era II veterans, the unemployment rate for those with a service-connected disability (6.4
percent) was not statistically different than the rate for those with no disability (4.0
percent). 

Among Gulf War-era II veterans with a service-connected disability, 65 percent reported a
disability rating of 60 percent or higher in August 2023. Gulf War-era II veterans who 
reported a disability rating of less than 30 percent were much more likely to be in the labor
force than those with a rating of 60 percent or higher (83.0 percent compared with 67.9
percent). The unemployment rate for veterans of this service period with a disability rating
of less than 30 percent was 4.7 percent in August 2023, not statistically different than the
rate for those with a disability rating of 60 percent or higher, at 6.9 percent.

In August 2023, 31 percent (907,000) of veterans who served during Gulf War era I reported
a service-connected disability. Their labor force participation rate (59.8 percent) was lower
than the rate for Gulf War-era I veterans who did not have a service-connected disability 
(78.6 percent). The unemployment rate for Gulf War-era I veterans with a service-connected
disability (5.6 percent) was higher than the rate for those without a service-connected
disability (1.4 percent).

Regardless of period of service, many veterans with a service-connected disability work in
the public sector. In August 2023, 31.4 percent of employed veterans with a service-connected
disability worked in federal, state, or local government, compared with 20.0 percent of
veterans with no disability and 12.5 percent of nonveterans. Nineteen percent of employed 
veterans with a service-connected disability worked for the federal government, compared 
with 7.9 percent of veterans with no disability and 2.2 percent of nonveterans. (See table
8.)

Reserve and National Guard Membership

In August 2023, one-third (1.7 million) of Gulf War-era II veterans were current or past
members of the Reserve or National Guard. The labor force participation rate for veterans of
this period who were current or past members of the Reserve or National Guard (82.7 percent)
was not statistically different from the rate for veterans who had never been members (78.6
percent). Among Gulf War-era II veterans, those who were current or past members of the 
Reserve or National Guard had an unemployment rate of 4.2 percent, little changed from a year
earlier, while the rate for those who had never been members rose to 5.3 percent. (See table
9.)



Last Modified Date: March 20, 2024