The March employment report came out on Friday, and while the economy added fewer jobs than expected, the news was much better for post-9/11 veterans. Statistics from the Department of Labor revealed that the unemployment rate for soldiers who have joined the military after September 11 dropped to 9.2 percent, down slightly from 9.4 percent.
The improvement marks a continuing trend of slight improvement that indicates the many initiatives aimed at veterans' employment are paying dividends. Many of the programs have been aimed at helping soldiers transfer skills they learned in the Armed Forces to jobs in the civilian world. Many of these are common sense moves, such as making it easier for troops to earn certification for jobs they are well qualified to do.
"It's hard for me to believe that a guy can drive a truck in combat but he can't drive one on the highways. I mean, what the hell is that all about?" John E. Hamilton, commander in chief of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, told NBC News recently. "You've got a [medical] corpsman out there in field with Marines doing everything short of open-heart surgery but he can't be an EMT when he gets home."
While the unemployment rate is improving, lawmakers recognize their work is not done. In fact, the House Veterans' Affairs Committee plans on reviewing all the proposed legislation next week, Military Times reports.