Today, veteran unemployment sits at 3.2%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Although there’s always more work to be done, that kind of number reflects more than a decade of effort in helping America’s veterans find work. It simply wasn’t always so low.
In 2011, the veteran unemployment rate was a staggering 8.3%, while the rate for nonveterans was 3.6%. When parsed for the era in which those veterans served, it could get much worse. Gulf War-era veterans experienced as high as 30.2% unemployment for men and 36.1% for women.
When those statistics were released by the BLS, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce acted to do something about the problem. It launched Hiring Our Heroes two months later. It was (and still is) an effort to bring private and public-sector organizations together to help veterans, transitioning service members and spouses find meaningful, sustainable employment.
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