Jobless Rate is 11.2% for Iraq, Afghanistan Vets
Another factor, I'm sure, is that so many of them have untreated depression and other psychological problems:
WASHINGTON — The economic downturn is hitting Iraq and Afghanistan veterans harder than other workers — one in nine are now out of work — and may be encouraging some troops to remain in the service, according to Labor Department records and military officials.
The 11.2% jobless rate for veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan and who are 18 and older rose 4 percentage points in the past year. That's significantly higher than the corresponding 8.8% rate for non-veterans in the same age group, says Labor Department economist Jim Walker.
Army records show the service has hit 152% of its re-enlistment goal this year. "Obviously the economy plays a big role in people's decisions," says Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, an Army spokesman.
Some soldiers are re-enlisting specifically because of the poor civilian job market, says Sgt. 1st Class Julius Kelley, a career counselor at Fort Campbell, Ky. "It's job security (in the Army), and I try to sell that all the time," he says. "You don't have to worry about getting laid off in the Army."
The market is tough outside the Army. Unemployment among the youngest of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, those ages 20 to 24, reached 15% in February, records show. That compares with 13.8% for the same age group of non-veterans. Some government jobs offer preference to veterans by giving them extra points on civil service exams. However, there is no evidence this is having much effect on unemployment.
The $787 billion economic stimulus law enacted last month includes a $2,400-per-person tax credit for employers who hire unemployed veterans in 2009 and 2010.
In addition, the Labor Department operates career centers that provide priority service for veterans and the HireVetsFirst website, says Peggy Abrahamson, a Labor Department spokeswoman.
Young veterans, Walker says, often have trouble "translating their military skills into skills on their résumé that employers recognized."
Unless you are blown up, in which case they won't have much further use for you.
War is a RACKET.
statusquObama, change you can only pretend in
Sadly, our number 1 export.
Big business at its finest.
"Like the forces of war, depression shows man as a senseless cog in a senselessly whirling machine which is beyond human understanding and has ceased to serve any purpose but its own." - Peter Drucker
when staying in the military to fight two (ostensibly) unwinnable wars is more promising than coming home.
"Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."
---Southwest Airlines
Unless something has changed since then, Reagan pulled veterans out of the unemployment statistics while he was in office in an effort to 'reduce' the unemployment rate without changing anything. That's why the high veterans unemployment rate seems to have no effect on the overall unemployment rate.
is on the way. And not just for Vets.
Thanks to our "fearless billionaires".
a way to shame those billionires into acting like humans
shame someone into something when they don't know what shame is.
For Food
these debt and derivatives collapse "convulsions" to the death.
And that death will be yours and mine--economically at the rate things are going.
Support our troops - until they come, then they can fend for themselves.
is intended to be a factual statement
Like a wise man once said: Conservatives want live babies so they can raise them to be dead soldiers.
The reality is there is no experience in the Armed Forces. How to kill, not be killed and for some getting away with rape, surprisingly enough, are not marketable skills in the workforce.
Listen, I've read this website for a while. I know I'm sort of a conundrum, a liberal in the military, but believe me there are some of us. There are a lot of us with marketable skills. I enlisted in the military already having a business degree from THE state university of Massachusetts. I have marketable skills in multiple areas, from personnel management and supervision to the technical skills that come with being able to run a mobile nuclear reactor. I had to re-enlist, because frankly there is nothing out there that I can afford to take. Sure, I could take a 30K a year job, with promotion/salary potential, but is it worth sacrificing the 61K I make a year now?
We can blame conservatives for forcing/creating an environment where people have to re-enlist. But last time I checked, liberal folks aren't hiring either. We can throw out blind missives, or we can look in the mirror. Instead of playing the blame game, we can fix the problem. I was hoping that would be the theme that would permeate when I cast my vote for President Obama. The theme that would transcend when this country cast it's vote for President Obama.
Unfortunately, people like yourself are going blanket all of us military folks as rapists and murders, participants in an illegal war. Many of us were in the military prior to the war being "declared". I've served this country well and proudly for the last six years. Some of the decisions made by upper management have pained us all greatly. But when the rubber hit the road for me, nobody was hiring. Go ahead and keep being narrow minded. I'll keep feeding my family. If you are hiring in 2013/2014, we'll talk.
My son is in the miltary. He is a reservist.
He can't find work when he comes home because he never knows when he is going to be called upon to do something else. He's been in since 2004 and he has been home a total of about 17 months since he's been in. He's had to do his month of duty a few times, and he's been to Iraq twice. Other than that he's had manditory schooling that he has had to take out of state. (at least he is on duty when he does that and gets paid.)
Luckily for him, he has been able to find work with a family friend who does landscaping and construction. If he hadn't found a small businessman who was willing to put him on the job when my son was home, he would not have found any jobs.
He worked for a hotel before he left for Iraq the first time. They only hired him because they are always looking for short time help for minimum wage.
His MOS in the service is Journalist/Photographer. Don't be fooled, he's also had to do things like road side duties, and street patrol in Baghdad. He's also trained for minimal medical assistance. As he likes to put it, he has to carry his camera, a laptop, a rifle and his medics kit when he goes out, because he might need all of the above. Even though it sounds like he has a lot of marketable skills, there aren't too many civilian employers who are looking for a photographer who is trained as a medic and a sharp shooter.
That's how much we are still spending on the idiotic war in Iraq.
Still killing people in Iraq.
Still killing our soldiers.
Still killing civilians in Pakistan.
Big plans for Afghanistan: McCain, Lieberman and Obama all one big happy warmongering family.
my own unemployment rate is 100%.
"Egotism is the anesthetic that dulls the pain of Stupidity" - Frank Leahy
and their families get the short end of things, recurring story from decade to decade. Our priority to care for war injured and allow education benefits to help civilian job re-entry just seems what is just and what is owed.
(Universal) Education and heath care (incl mental health and social services) would be a priority for all Americans if we want to become a great country both internally and externally. Defense budget should allot this, but making the budget priorities different (w/health, education and viable long term economic planning) would go a long way to humanize and make this nation progressive.
My unemployment rate now is 100 % also " Amitola ". You know it recently occurred to me that God had it all right until he created human beings , something really fucked up at that point .
..hires Vets. We've even had a reservist who was called up for active duty shortly after we hired him and when he returned from a second tour of Iraq, he was welcomed back. I think SteelPickle made some good points above.
Now, a little off-topic, maybe not. This may be one of the reasons we need to prosecute W for War Crimes, so this never happens again. Having to go war must be the MOST difficult decision and one not to be taken lightly or for political gain. The devastation that is wrought is not just the result of a bomb dropping but what happens to the men and women, and their families, who must do the fighting. Iraq was a war of choice based on lies and innuendo. It has wounded this nation in many ways. W & friends did not go to Iraq to WIN; they went to make a profit and look now, at the cost!
Recently, an Iraq War vet, unemployed, having problems paying bills, rent, etc. tried to steal his dog back from the pound and rob a jewelry store. He was arrested and then a girlfriend tried to smuggle cigarettes and anti-depression medicine to him, so they arrested her. OK, bad, all bad. Would it have happened if we hadn't gone to Iraq? Don't know but it did happen and how many more times will we hear this story told in the coming years.
Many knew it was a bad idea. People were told how bad and they didn't listen. Someone has to pay for mistakes! It shouldn't be the Vets!
Mickey: "It was an epiphany. Do you know what an epipany is?"
Keoni: "NOT NOW MICKEY!"
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