Unemployment among the newest generation of veterans fell somewhat in December after a sharp spike upward in the month before, new government data indicate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The unemployment rate for Afghanistan- and Iraq-era veterans dropped to 5.7 percent in December, according to information released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The rate was down from November’s 6.5 percent, which was a jump from the 4.7 percent unemployment rate in October.
The overall rate for post-9\/11 veterans in 2016 was 5.1 percent, the lowest annual rate since the government started tracking unemployment among these veterans in 2008.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Among all veterans, the annual rate in 2016 was 4.3 percent, the lowest since 2007. Between November and December, the numbers fell from 4.8 percent to 4.1 percent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The rate among non-veterans, meanwhile, ticked up a bit in December from November — 4.3 percent to 4.4 percent — with an annual rate of 4.7 percent.