Thomas Perez on Homeland Security

DOL helped reduce veteran unemployment from 8.7% to 4.3%

In addition to our own hiring efforts, the rest of the economy has figured out that veterans are great employees as well. The unemployment rate for veterans has fallen to 4.3%, from a high of 8.7% during the recession, and even "Gulf War Era II" veterans, or Post 9/11 veterans, have seen their unemployment rate come below the rest of the civilian population at 5.0%. We certainly can't take credit for all of that wonderful progress, but DOL helps more than a million veterans every year, and in 2014, we helped more than 150,000 veterans through our Jobs for Veterans State Grants program alone. We also helped more than 17,000 formerly homeless veterans find employment in 2014, with an average starting wage of almost $12 an hour.