On April 1, the U.S. Department of Labor announced that veterans unemployment has dropped to 2.4 percent.
The U.S. Department of Labor announced April 1 that national veterans unemployment in March was down nearly five percent from 2021, and likely decreased in California as well.
For context, California veterans unemployment was at its lowest rate in 2018 at 2.7 percent, but the COVID-19 pandemic caused the rate to increase to nine percent, its highest total over the past decade and one of the highest rates in the United States. The second year of the pandemic saw veterans unemployment improve to 6.4 percent in California, but official 2022 veterans-specific unemployment statistics for California have yet to be published.
However, there is reason to believe that the veterans unemployment rate continues to improve in California. Over the past decade, veterans unemployment rates have typically performed better than general unemployment rates in California. And in 2022, general unemployment statistics show that California was tied for the second highest percentage drop from February to March at 0.4 percent.
Year over year, general unemployment in California dropped from 8.4 percent in March 2021 to 4.9 percent in March 2022. As such, it is likely that the veterans unemployment rate has further declined since March 2021.
That said, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, only Washington D.C. and four states have worse general unemployment rates than California.
Additionally, California still has one of the highest veterans unemployment rates and consequently, the highest rate of veterans homelessness in the country. To that end, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs continues to focus funding and efforts to reduce total veterans homelessness in California as part of its plan to reduce the national rate.
Author: Christian Southards
Coming from a family with a proud military background and wanting to contribute his writing skills to a worthy cause, Christian began writing for the California American Legion in August of 2020. His father is a 25-year Army Veteran and his grandfather served in the Navy during Vietnam.
