From 2008 to 2015, male veterans ages 22 to 44 who left active-duty service after September 2001 had experiences in the labor market similar to those of civilian men, although the youngest veterans had somewhat higher unemployment rates.
The Defense Department spent $310 million (in 2017 dollars) on unemployment benefits in 2016, down from $1 billion in 2011. Nearly half of soldiers in the active Army in 2013 applied for those benefits (that share has probably fallen).
