Unemployment rates for both male and female veterans increased in 2020, reflecting the COVID-19 pandemic, the US Labor Department reported. The rate for male veterans was 6.5 percent, little different from the rate of 6.7 percent for female veterans.

Among the 581,000 unemployed veterans in 2020, 54 percent were ages 25 to 54, 41 percent were age 55 and over, and 5 percent were ages 18 to 24.

The unemployment rate of veterans with a service-connected disability, at 6.2 percent in August 2020, did not have a statistically significant change over the year. The rate for veterans with no disability rose to 7.2 percent.

In August 2020, 31 percent of employed veterans with a service-connected disability worked in the public sector, compared with 19 percent of veterans with no disability and 14 percent of nonveterans.

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If you’ve recently left the military, you may be eligible for Unemployment Compensation for Ex-servicemembers (UCX). You must:

• Have been on active duty with a branch of the U.S. military.
• Have been separated under honorable conditions.