The unemployment rate for the nation's veterans hit 11.7 percent in April, well under the 14.7 percent rate for the entire workforce, as the coronavirus outbreak shuttered businesses around the country, Military.com reported Friday.
The rise was a dramatic spike from 3.8 percent in March and 3.5 percent in February for unemployed vets, according to Labor Department figures.
The jobless rate for post-9/11 veterans, considered the most vulnerable to economic downturns, was 13 percent.
For veterans of the first Gulf War, the jobless rate was 7.1 percent; for Vietnam, Korea and World War II vets it was 17 percent, reflecting the oversized impact on the aging vet population.
For all male veterans, April's unemployment rate was 11.4 percent; for female veterans, it was 14 percent, the statistics showed.
During the recession that began in 2008, the overall unemployment rate for all veterans never rose to double digits, although the rate for post-9/11 vets hit 11.1 percent at one point, the news site reported.