November was a busy month! Between Veterans Month celebrations, a decisive national election, IAVA’s Heroes Gala, the NYC Veterans Day Parade, and of course, my favorite holiday, Thanksgiving, it’s easy to forget that the Bureau of Labor and Statistics was carefully tracking gains and losses of American jobs to the economy. Today, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released November’s Employment Situation report, which gives us the unemployment numbers for the nation and veterans.

By The Numbers

The national unemployment rate remained below 4 percent for the 5th month in a row; this month it’s again 3.7 percent.

The veteran unemployment rate, including all eras of veterans, rose slightly to 3.1 percent, but continues a downward trend we’ve seen over the past few years. The post-9/11 unemployment rate continues to be fairly low at 3.4 percent. Overall, this is a good news story for veterans, as both the veteran unemployment rate and the post-9/11 veteran unemployment rate is below the national unemployment rate.

The unemployment rate for women veterans continues to fluctuate. This month, post-9/11 women veterans showed an unemployment rate of 4.1 percent, a rise from last month’s 2.7 percent, whereas the male post-9/11 unemployment rate for November stood at 3.3 percent. As we’ve noted before, the trend lines are most important to keep an eye on here, and it’s clear that we’ve still got work to do when it comes to women veterans and unemployment.

IAVA’s Winter #StormTheHill

Next week, IAVA Member Leaders from across the country will descended on Washington, D.C. for a week of engaging events, Capitol Hill meetings, and grassroots advocacy surrounding IAVA’s Big 6 Priorities.

We’ll be talking about the late and inaccurate GI Bill payments that are affecting student veterans around the country. We’ll discuss issues like veteran and service member suicide, the inequalities surrounding care for women veterans, and advocate for treatment options such as cannabis for today’s most pressing healthcare challenges. And more. Storm the Hill is about focusing the nation’s attention on the issues that impact the post-9/11 generation most. And that’s what we will do.

All of these issues are key to veteran employment. For example, late GI Bill payments can impact a veteran’s education which can impact graduation and ultimately employment. So when we talk about IAVA’s Big 6 Priorities, we’re talking about veteran employment and wellbeing. It all works together.

See more about our Winter #StormTheHill here and get involved in our campaigns here. Learn more about IAVA’s Big 6 Priorities and our position on veteran employment here.