New Hampshire’s intense effort to reach out to returning servicemen and women is paying off in the form of low unemployment rates for veterans.
According to national statistics, veterans of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan are more likely to be unemployed than their civilian peers. But in New Hampshire, the unemployment rate for veterans in 2007 was just 3 percent, a bit lower than the 3.3 percent rate for non-veterans.
New Hampshire’s Commissioner of Employment Security, Richard Brothers, said the state takes its responsibility to those who serve very seriously.
His department includes veterans who work as counselors to assess job skills, offer resume and job training advice and connect veterans with other support services. And the agency personally contacts every returning service member.