Unemployment rate 5.5 percent in 2019 for Gulf War-era II veterans with a disability

Gulf War-era II veterans with a service-connected disability had an unemployment rate of 5.5 percent in August 2019. That was not statistically different from the 4.4-percent rate for Gulf War-era II veterans with no service-connected disability. Over the year, both rates were little changed. Gulf War-era II veterans with a service-connected disability usually have not had an unemployment rate that is statistically different from those without a service-connected disability. Gulf War-era II veterans served on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces anywhere in the world since September 2001.

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Chart Data Unemployment rate for Gulf War-era II veterans by presence and degree of service-connected disability, 2009–19 Year Without a service-connected disability With a service-connected disability Less than 30 percent disability rating 30 to 50 percent disability rating 60 percent or higher disability rating 2009 12.7% 11.8% 12.2% 9.8% 10.7% 2010 13.6 11.2 13.9 13.0 0.8 2011 9.5 12.1 12.6 10.4 14.4 2012 12.5 8.0 5.6 8.4 9.2 2013 11.1 8.6 10.8 5.7 11.6 2014 7.8 9.1 10.7 5.2 11.4 2015 4.8 5.5 3.0 1.9 8.6 2016 5.7 5.4 4.0 3.5 5.4 2017 4.8 3.9 2.1 1.5 6.3 2018 3.3 5.3 1.8 7.4 6.2 2019 4.4 5.5 2.3 1.7 9.4

Veterans 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. For Gulf War-era II veterans, those with a service-connected disability rating of 60 percent or higher had an unemployment rate of 9.4 percent in August 2019, much higher than the rate of 2.3 percent for those with a service-connected disability rating of less than 30 percent. The unemployment rates for both groups changed little over the year.

These data are from the Current Population Survey. For more information, see “Employment Situation of Veterans — 2019.” Veterans are men and women who previously served on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces and were civilians when they were surveyed. People on active duty are not included in the survey. Typically, the CPS Veterans supplement is conducted in August. In 2010, however, the supplement was conducted in July.

RELATED SUBJECTS Disability

Unemployment