EMPLOYMENT SITUATION OF VETERANS -- 2022

The unemployment rate for veterans who served on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces atany time since September 2001--a group referred to as Gulf War-era II veterans--declined to 3.1 percent in 2022 and the rate for all veterans decreased to 2.8 percent, the U.S.Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. In August 2022, 41 percent of Gulf War-era IIveterans had a service-connected disability, compared with 27 percent of all veterans.

This information was obtained from the Current Population Survey (CPS), a monthly samplesurvey 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 collectedmonthly in the CPS; these monthly data are the source of the 2022 annual averages presentedin this news release. In August 2022, 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 bythe 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 2022 data:

--The unemployment rate for all veterans (2.8 percent) was lower than the rate for   nonveterans (3.6 percent) in 2022.

--Unemployment rates for both male and female veterans decreased to 2.8 percent in   2022.

--Unemployment rates for White and Black veterans were lower than for their nonveteran   counterparts in 2022, while the rates for Asian and Hispanic veterans were not   statistically different than their nonveteran counterparts.

--Among the 250,000 unemployed veterans in 2022, 54 percent were ages 25 to 54, 39 percent   were age 55 and over, and 7 percent were ages 18 to 24.

--Among Gulf War-era II veterans, the unemployment rate of veterans with a service-connected   disability was little changed at 3.4 percent and the rate for veterans with no disability   decreased to 1.9 percent in August 2022.

--Gulf War-era II veterans who reported a service-connected 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 in August 2022

--In August 2022, 27 percent of employed veterans with a service-connected disability    worked in the public sector, compared with 22 percent of veterans with no disability    and 13 percent of nonveterans.

 --In 2022, the unemployment rate of veterans varied across the country, ranging from   0.7 percent in North Dakota to 5.2 percent in Nevada.

The Veteran Population

In 2022, 18.4 million men and women were veterans, accounting for about 7 percent of the civiliannoninstitutional population age 18 and over. Of all veterans, about 1 in 10 were women. In thesurvey, 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 KoreanWar, and the Vietnam era, all of whom are now 65 years and over. Veterans who served during these wartime periods accounted for about one-third (6.2 million) of the total veteran populationin 2022. Forty-four percent of veterans (8.1 million) served during Gulf War era I (August 1990to August 2001) or Gulf War era II (September 2001 to present). Twenty-two percent (4.0 million)served outside these designated wartime periods.

Gulf War-era II Veterans 

In 2022, there were 4.9 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. Thirty-six percent of all GulfWar-era II veterans were between the ages of 35 and 44.

In 2022, the unemployment rate for Gulf War-era II veterans declined to 3.1 percent and was belowthe rate in 2019 (3.5 percent) prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Among Gulf War-era II veterans,the unemployment rates for men and women were little different from each other and both declinedin 2022 (to 3.1 percent and 2.9 percent, respectively).

The overall unemployment rate for male Gulf War-era II veterans, at 3.1 percent, was lower thanthe rate for male nonveterans, at 3.7 percent, in 2022. By age, unemployment rates for male GulfWar-era II veterans and nonveterans were not statistically different, with one exception: 45- to54-year-old male Gulf War-era II veterans had an unemployment rate of 1.6 percent, lower than therate of 2.4 percent for their nonveteran counterparts.

The overall unemployment rate for female Gulf War-era II veterans, at 2.9 percent, was not statistically different from the rate for female nonveterans (3.5 percent) in 2022. By age,unemployment rates for female Gulf War-era II veterans and nonveterans were not statisticallydifferent.

Employed Gulf War-era II veteran men were more likely to work in management, professional, andrelated occupations than employed nonveteran men (43 percent and 40 percent, respectively),while these veterans were less likely to work in sales and office occupations than their nonveteran counterparts (12 percent and 14 percent, respectively). Employed Gulf War-era II veteran women were less likely to work in service occupations than their nonveteran counterparts(13 percent and 19 percent, respectively)

Employed Gulf War-era II veteran men were more than twice as likely to work in the public sectorin 2022 as their employed nonveteran counterparts--26 percent versus 10 percent. Employed femaleGulf War-era II veterans were also more likely to work in the public sector than nonveteran women--27 percent versus 16 percent. Among the employed, 14 percent of all Gulf War-era II veterans worked for the federal government, compared with 2 percent of nonveterans.

In August 2022, 42 percent of Gulf War-era II veterans reported serving in Iraq, Afghanistan,or both locations. These veterans had an unemployment rate of 2.3 percent, little different than the rate for Gulf War-era II veterans who served elsewhere (2.4 percent).

Gulf War-era I Veterans

In 2022, of the 3.2 million veterans who served during Gulf War era I (August 1990 to August 2001),15 percent were women. All Gulf War-era I veterans were age 35 and over in 2022, compared with64 percent of Gulf War-era II veterans. Forty-eight percent of Gulf War-era I veterans were ages 45 to 54, 28 percent were ages 55 to 64, 13 percent were age 65 and over, and 12 percentwere ages 35 to 44.

The unemployment rate for Gulf War-era I veterans was 2.1 percent in 2022, down by 1.4 percentagepoints from the prior year. The jobless rate for Gulf War-era I veterans in 2022 was belowits pre-pandemic rate of 2.6 percent in 2019. 

In 2022, the unemployment rate for male Gulf War-era I veterans (2.1 percent) was lower thanthat of their Gulf War-era II counterparts (3.1 percent). The difference in unemployment ratesreflects, 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 thanolder people. The rate for female Gulf War-era I veterans (1.8 percent) was slightly lowerthan the rate for female Gulf War-era II veterans (2.9 percent). Among Gulf War-era I veterans,the unemployment rate declined for men but changed little for women in 2022; the rates formen and women were not statistically different.

Veterans of Other Service Periods 

In 2022, 4.0 million veterans had served on active duty during "other service periods," mainlybetween the Korean War and the Vietnam era and between the Vietnam era and Gulf War era I.All veterans from this period of service were age 45 and over at the time of the survey.Half of these veterans were ages 55 to 64, 44 percent were age 65 and over, and 6 percentwere ages 45 to 54. In 2022, 1 in 10 veterans of other service periods were women. 

The jobless rate for veterans of other service periods declined to 2.7 percent in 2022 andis little different from the rate in 2019 (3.0 percent). Among veterans of other serviceperiods, the unemployment rate for men (2.7 percent) was not statistically different fromthe rate for women (3.1 percent) in 2022. The jobless rate for male veterans of other serviceperiods declined over the year, while the rate for women was little changed from the prior year.

Veterans with a Service-connected Disability

In August 2022, 4.9 million veterans, or 27 percent of all veterans, had a service-connecteddisability. Veterans with a service-connected disability are assigned a disability rating bythe U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs or the U.S. Department of Defense. Ratings range from0 to 100 percent, in increments of 10 percentage points, depending on the severity of thecondition. 

The unemployment rate for veterans with a service-connected disability changed little at 3.6percent in August 2022. The rate for veterans with no disability declined to 2.7 percent andwas not statistically different from the rate for veterans with a service-connected disability.The unemployment rates for male and female veterans with a service-connected disability changedlittle over the year to 3.7 percent and 3.2 percent, respectively, in August 2022. These rateswere not statistically different from each other. The labor force participation rate for veterans with a service-connected disability (47.7 percent) was also not statistically differentthan the rate for veterans with no disability

Among veterans with a service-connected disability, 23 percent reported a disability ratingof less than 30 percent, while 50 percent had a rating of 60 percent or higher. In August 2022,veterans with a service-connected disability rating of less than 30 percent were much morelikely to be in the labor force than those with a rating of 60 percent or higher (52.6 percentversus 44.2 percent). The unemployment rate for veterans with a disability rating of less than30 percent was 3.5 percent, little different than the rate for those with a disability ratingof 60 percent or higher, at 3.7 percent.

Among veterans who served during Gulf War era II, 41 percent (2.0 million) reported a service-connected disability in August 2022. The labor force participation rate of all Gulf War-eraII veterans with a service-connected disability was 74.3 percent, lower than the rate for veterans from this period with no service-connected disability (86.3 percent). Among Gulf War-eraII veterans, the unemployment rate for those with a service-connected disability was 3.4 percent,not statistically different than the rate for those with no disability (1.9 percent). 

Among Gulf War-era II veterans with a service-connected disability, 15 percent reported adisability rating of less than 30 percent and 58 percent reported a disability rating of 60percent or higher in August 2022. Gulf War-era II veterans who reported a disability ratingof less than 30 percent were much more likely to be in the labor force than those with arating of 60 percent or higher (94.8 percent compared with 65.9 percent). The unemploymentrate for veterans with a disability rating of less than 30 percent was 7.4 percent in August2022, higher than the rate for those with a disability rating of 60 percent or higher, at 2.6percent.

In August 2022, 30 percent (978,000) of veterans who served during Gulf War era I reporteda service-connected disability. Their labor force participation rate (55.8 percent) was lowerthan the rate for Gulf War-era I veterans who did not have a service-connected disability (79.6percent). The unemployment rate for Gulf War-era I veterans with a service-connected disability(4.3 percent) was higher than the rate for those without a service-connected disability (1.9percent).

Thirteen percent (534,000) of veterans who served during other service periods reported a service-connected disability in August 2022. The labor force participation rate of these veterans (35.9 percent) was lower than their counterparts without a service-connected disability(44.2 percent). The unemployment rates were not statistically different for veterans with aservice-connected disability (2.4 percent) and those with no disability (3.4 percent).

Regardless of period of service, many veterans with a service-connected disability work inthe public sector. In August 2022, 27 percent of employed veterans with a service-connecteddisability worked in federal, state, or local government, compared with 22 percent of veteranswith no disability and 13 percent of nonveterans. Eighteen percent of employed veterans witha service-connected disability worked for the federal government, compared with 7 percent ofveterans with no disability and 2 percent of nonveterans. 

Reserve and National Guard Membership

In August 2022, 34 percent of Gulf War-era II veterans were current or past members of theReserve or National Guard. The labor force participation rate was higher for veterans ofthis period who were current or past members of the Reserve or National Guard (85.3 percent)than for veterans who had never been members (77.5 percent). Among Gulf War-era II veterans,those who were current or past members of the Reserve or National Guard had an unemploymentrate of 3.2 percent, little changed from a year earlier, while the rate for those who hadnever been members declined to 1.9 percent.

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