Noteboom The Law Firm

April’s Unemployment News Good For Some Veterans

Veterans have been waiting for positive news from the unemployment front and for some, that news finally came in April. That positive news, however, did not apply to young, male combat veterans.

According to the Department of Labor (DoL), April's unemployment rate was 9%, which was higher than March's 8.8%. Even though about 240,000 new jobs were added over a couple of industries, approximately 13.7 million Americans remained unemployed. Veteran unemployment, however, was down to 7.7% from 9% in March.

The unemployment rate for those veterans who were on active duty since Sept. 11, 2001 remained at 10.9%, which is unchanged from March. Additionally, there was a large split between male and female veterans.

For male veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, the overall unemployment is 11.7%, and for women of the same time period the rate is a much lower 6.9%. In an effort to combat these numbers, both the DoL and the Department of Defense (DoD) have both honed their transition programs in an effort to help separating veterans gain employment.

The programs focused on helping veterans find jobs once they leave the service have been in place for 20 years. In that time, not much has been done to improve them. Now they are being revamped so as to allow more tailoring for veterans' individual skills. At the same time, the DoL and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) are both updating their programs to be more inclusive, relevant, and helpful.

If you are a disabled veteran who has been denied disability compensation or have not yet applied for benefits from the VA, a South Florida disability attorney from LaVan & Neidenberg is ready to help. To learn if you are entitled to certain programs and benefits contact our veterans disability rights firm today - 1-888-234-5758.