Veterans face high unemployment after military service

Unemployment among recently returned veterans, already in double digits, is poised to get worse as more soldiers return from Iraq and Afghanistan.

The jobless rate for veterans who served at any time since September 2001 — called Gulf War-era II veterans — was 13.3% in June, up from 12.1% the month before, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In June 2010 it was 11.5%.

The difficulties veterans face in finding work was in evidence Sunday at the Hiring Our Heroes job fair at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, where more than 1,000 veterans converged to meet with employers and seek work. The veterans also got a peek at newlyweds Prince William and Catherine, who dropped by the fair as part of their tour of the Golden State.

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