 Report Highlights Workforce Conditions for Veterans
There
is much attention focused nationally on the challenges veterans face in the
labor market, particularly veterans of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. In
response, federal, state, and local governments, advocacy groups, businesses,
and others are making efforts to assist them in their job search. The recent
report Employment
Situation of Veterans-2011 from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
highlighted the national scope of unemployment and labor force participation
among veterans. A new report, Labor
Market Activities of Maine Veterans, draws on similar and supplementary
Census data profiling workforce conditions for veterans in Maine.
Veterans
account for 13 percent of the population age 20 and over in Maine, the fourth
highest share the nation. Unemployment rates for veterans of the Gulf War II
Era (September 2001 to present) have been higher than for those of previous
eras. A range of factors contribute to this, which are highlighted in several
charts and narrative in the full
report
A Year or More: The High Cost of Long-Term Unemployment
The share of people unemployed 52 or more weeks shot up
from around ten percent of all unemployed in 2007 to one-third in 2011. A PEW
Charitable Trusts analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data on the
demographics of long-term unemployment had some interesting findings.
Though
total unemployment rates are lowest among those age 50+ and highest among those
under 25, the share of long-term unemployed is nearly twice as high among the
older group.
Similarly, total unemployment rates are lowest among those with
the most educational attainment and highest among those with the least
education, but the share of long-term unemployed is higher among people with
some college or a degree than for those with no college.
2012 National Study of Employers
The Society for Human Resource
Management in conjunction with two other groups sponsored the 2012 National
Study of Employers, a comprehensive “study of the practices, policies, programs
and benefits provided by U.S. employers to address the changing needs of
today’s workforce and workplace.”
The study examined workplace flexibility,
health care and economic security benefits, caregiving leave, and elder care
assistance. It found flexibility that enhances an employee’s ability to decide
when and where they accomplish their work tasks is on the rise.
The proportion
of employers allowing at least some employees access to flex time and place and
choices in managing their work time increased since 2005. On the other hand,
flexibility around reduced time, caregiving leaves, and flex careers declined
since 2005.
Recent Economic Releases
-
Maine Employment Situation News
Release – Unemployment rate 7.2 percent in April (HTML)
-
U.S. Employment Situation News
Release – Unemployment rate 8.1 percent in April (HTML) (PDF)
(Note: monthly workforce statistics for the U.S. are typically released
the first Friday of each month; statistics for states are usually released
two weeks later.)
-
U.S. Job Openings and Labor
Turnover Survey – There were 3.7 million job openings the last
business day of March, below the 4.3 million when the recession began in
December 2007, but up 1.3 million since the end of the recession in July
2009. (HTML) (PDF)
-
Employment Trends Index – Increased in April (HTML) (PDF)
-
Consumer Sentiment Index – Confidence was largely
unchanged at improved levels in April (PDF)
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