Washington, D.C., had the highest veteran unemployment rate in the nation in 2015, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
"In the survey, veterans are defined as men and women who have previously served on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces and who were civilians at the time these data were collected," the bureau explains.
According to the bureau, the unemployment rate for all veterans 18 years and over declined from 5.3 percent in 2014 to 4.6 percent in 2015. While the national rate declined, veterans in the District of Columbia saw unemployment increase from 7.5 percent in 2014 to 7.7 percent in 2015.
Aside from D.C., veteran unemployment rates were highest in Maryland with 7.2 percent, California with 6.8 percent, Mississippi with 6.2 percent, and Kansas with 6.1 percent. Veteran unemployment rates were lowest in Iowa with 1.9 percent, Indiana with 2.4 percent, Hawaii and South Dakota with 2.5 percent and Utah with 2.6 percent.
The unemployment rate was higher for male veterans than females, and higher for those 45 years older than younger generations.
"The unemployment rate for male veterans overall was lower than the rate for female veterans in 2015," the bureau states. "The unemployment rate for male veterans declined to 4.5 percent. The rate for female veterans changed little at 5.4 percent."
"Among the 495,000 unemployed veterans in 2015, 57 percent were age 45 and over," the report states. "About 37 percent were age 35 to 44, and 5 percent were age 18 to 24."
There were 10.452,000 veterans 18 years and older not in the labor force in 2015, which means they did not have a job or actively seek one in the past four weeks. There were 93,688,000 total Americans 16 years and older not in the labor force in February 2015, which was the latest data available.