New Statistics Show Unemployment Rates are Higher for Veterans

Alaska Public Media | By Ellen Lockyer

Published July 7, 2011 at 10:04 PM AKDT

The U.S. Congress's Joint Economic Committee has released updated statistics on veterans' employment numbers since September 11, 2001. Committee Chairman Senator Bob Casey says the high unemployment rate among the nation's nearly 2.5 million veterans who have served since then is unacceptable. Alaska's overall unemployment rate as of May is 7.4 percent, but it's higher for vets. I spoke with Verdie Bowen, who is the Director of Veterans Affairs for the state of Alaska what kind of a job market Alaska’s vets can expect when they are discharged.

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Ellen Lockyer

APTI Reporter-Producer Ellen Lockyer started her radio career in the late 1980s, after a stint at bush Alaska weekly newspapers, the Copper Valley Views and the Cordova Times. When the Exxon Valdez ran aground in Prince William Sound, Valdez Public Radio station KCHU needed a reporter, and Ellen picked up the microphone. Since then, she has literally traveled the length of the state, from Attu to Eagle and from Barrow to Juneau, covering Alaska stories on the ground for the AK show, Alaska News Nightly, the Alaska Morning News and for Anchorage public radio station, KSKA elockyer (at) alaskapublic (dot) org | 907.550.8446 | About Ellen

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