- Labor reports reveal job increases for America’s military veterans.
- Such job trends run counter to national job movement — where unemployment is rising.
- The ongoing conflict in the Middle East could undermine job prospects for all communities, including veterans.
Some good job news for America’s military vets at a moment of economic uncertainty.
The unemployment rate for all veterans dropped from 4.5% in January to 4.1% in February. That’s a jobs trend running counter to the national average.
Last month, the national unemployment rate rose to 4.4% after American employers unexpectedly cut 92,000 jobs — signaling an overall labor market under strain, according to The Associated Press.
But in a report updated last Friday, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that just over 4% of veterans now in the civilian labor force were without work in February — a number identical to that same time period in 2025.
The unemployment rate for male veterans last month was 3.9% — a slight improvement from the 4% figure recorded in February 2025.
But the jobless rate for female veterans has increased from 4.5% to 5.2% over the past year.
Meanwhile, the unemployment rate for post-9/11 veterans dropped a full percentage point from 5.8% in January to 4.8% in February. The jobless rate for that veteran community at this time last year was 4.3%.
The weakening national unemployment figures came as a surprise. Notably, they were compiled prior to the Feb. 28 start of the U.S. war with Iran.
“The job market is struggling in the face of so many headwinds,” Heather Long, chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union, told The Associated Press.
“Companies are going to be even more reluctant to hire this spring until the war ends and they can see consumers still spending. It’s a tense time for the U.S. economy.”
Job losses were widespread in February, according to Associated Press reporting.
Construction companies cut 11,000 jobs last month, which likely reflects frigid weather. And health care firms shed 28,000 jobs after a four-week strike by more than 30,000 nurses and other front-line workers at Kaiser Permanente in California and Hawaii.
Health care has been one of the job market’s strong points.
Factories cut 12,000 jobs and have now lost jobs for 14 of the last 15 months. Restaurants and bars lost nearly 30,000 jobs. Administrative and support services firms cut nearly 19,000 jobs and courier and messenger services almost 17,000.
Financial firms added 10,000 jobs, though job cuts continue to hit that sector as well this year.
Average hourly wages rose 0.4% from January and 3.8% from a year earlier.
War signals job uncertainties for vets
Even as the national labor market is enduring a chill, the Labor Department numbers suggest “employers still want to hire veterans,” Kevin Rasch, Warriors to Work regional director at the Wounded Warrior Project, told the Military Times.
In previous years, the task was to convince employers that veterans were assets to their workforce, Rasch said, “but now the word is out” that veterans bring reliability, discipline and leadership skills to the job.
The result: Unemployment rates for veterans has consistently been in the 3-5% range.
There are concerns, however, that the ongoing Middle East conflict could also affect job prospects for veterans.
“There is definitely the potential for impact — so we’re definitely watching to see what happens, but right now all we can do is serve those we’re serving,” Rasch said.