Unemployment rates for veterans fell in February following two months of increases, while the rate for the general population ticked up in a weakening labor market rocked by blue-collar job losses, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday.
In its monthly jobs report, the BLS stated that the unemployment rate for all veterans dropped from 4.5% in January to 4.1% in February, while the rate for post-9/11 veterans went down a full percentage point from 5.8% in January to 4.8% in February.
The drop in jobless rates for veterans came as the rate ticked up for the general population from 4.3% to 4.4%, reflecting the loss of 92,000 jobs cut by employers in February, the BLS said.
The manufacturing sector lost 12,000 jobs in February and a total of 90,000 jobs in 2025, the BLS said, despite President Donald Trump’s pledge to boost blue-collar jobs by pressing industries to bring back factories from overseas.
The troubling jobs report was based upon BLS data that was mostly compiled by mid-February, which was customary for the BLS and was well before the impact of the Feb. 28 start of the war with Iran and the resulting spike in oil prices and stock market turmoil could be gauged.
In her comments on the BLS report, Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, placed the blame for job losses on the administration of former President Joe Biden. In a statement, DeRemer said, “I’m optimistic that job growth will continue as we undo the Biden-era catastrophe of soaring prices and stagnant wages.”
Kevin Hassett, director of the White House National Economic Council, also sought to shrug off the troubling signs in the BLS report that he said came as “something of a surprise,” since “the economy is really strong.” He told CNBC that the BLS report was influenced by winter storms and strikes on the West Coast but “on average it’s about what we expect to be seeing.”
Despite the overall loss of jobs in February, the numbers in the BLS report show that “employers still want to hire veterans,” Kevin Rasch, Warriors to Work regional director at the Wounded Warrior Project, said in a phone interview with Military Times.
In previous years, the task was to convince employers that veterans were assets to their workforce, Rasch said, “but now the word is out” that veterans bring reliability, discipline and leadership skills to the job.
As a result, the unemployment rate for veterans has consistently been in the 3-5% range, and “that’s a solid place for us to be.” The concern now is on how the conflict in the Middle East will affect the labor market going forward, Rasch said.
“There is definitely the potential for impact, so we’re definitely watching to see what happens, but right now all we can do is serve those we’re serving,” Rasch said.
The concerns about the jobs market are continuing to pile up, said Heather Long, chief economist for the Navy Federal Credit Union.
“The war in Iran only adds more uncertainty to an already uneasy mood. Companies are going to be even more reluctant to hire this spring until the war ends and they can see consumers still spending. It’s a tense time for the U.S. economy,” Long said in a statement to Military Times.
