Reply #37: Veterans face high unemployment after military service [View All]

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-veteranjobs-20110711,0,3234204.story

Unemployment among recently returned veterans, already in double digits, is poised to get worse as more soldiers return from Iraq and Afghanistan.

The jobless rate for veterans who served at any time since September 2001 — called Gulf War-era II veterans — was 13.3% in June, up from 12.1% the month before, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In June 2010 it was 11.5%.

The difficulties veterans face in finding work was in evidence Sunday at the Hiring Our Heroes job fair at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, where more than 1,000 veterans converged to meet with employers and seek work. The veterans also got a peek at newlyweds Prince William and Catherine, who dropped by the fair as part of their tour of the Golden State.

"It just so happens that there are a lot of people out there and there aren't enough jobs," said Pavel Ksendz, a 25-year-old Culver City resident who joined the Army in 2003, right after graduating from high school. After serving for four years, including 14 months in Iraq, Ksendz recently applied for a job as a janitor in Santa Monica, only to be told there were 59 other applicants.