FROM THE TIMES UNION...
Natesha Lovell left for Iraq in 2004, the sole woman in her U.S. Army Reserve deployment. She returned safely, but life sincethen hasn't been easy.
The former supply sergeant has been unemployed since 2008, and now finds herself without a home. She crashes at a friend's place in Clifton Park.
Lovell is one of many returning service members who have struggled to find work since returning from overseas. In fact, the unemployment rate among younger veterans is far higher than for their counterparts who didn't serve in the military.
And with a million troops, according to a White House estimate, expected to return home from Iraq and Afghanistan by 2016, veteran unemployment is a problem that is threatening to become a crisis - especially in an economy that is still failing to create work for the millions of Americans who are already jobless.
"A lot of younger soldiers have never held civilian employment," said retired Command Sgt. Maj. Robert Van Pelt of the New York National Guard. "They've never gone out and had to find a job."
According to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate among veterans overall - 7.4 percent in November - is actually below the 8.2 percent rate of overall joblessness, a testament, in part, to veterans' ability to keep work once they have it.
Comments for "After military service, younger veterans are trained, tested and JOBLESS " (0)
Northwest Military is not responsible for the content of these comments. Northwest Military reserves the right to remove comments at their discretion.
No comments have been posted. Be the first and add one below.
Leave A Comment
Respond on Your Blog
Create an Account
or
Login
If you have a Northwest Military Account you can not only post comments, but you can also respond to articles in your own Northwest Military Blog. It's just another way to make your voice heard.