WASHINGTON — The unemployment rate among all veterans rose to 6.3% last month, up from 5.5% in October.
That figure translates into about 552,000 veterans looking for employment last month, out of roughly 8.7 million working-age veterans who are able to work.
For post-9/11 veterans - the largest group of veterans in America - unemployment increased from 6.2% to 6.9% in November.
"Clearly, COVID-19 is not behind us. It's in front of us. And it's imperative that this Congress acts swiftly," said Rep. Mike Levin (D-California).
"We don't have the luxury to wait until next year, to the next Congress to start devising a strategy to help our country's heroes, which is why we are here today," said another Californian Democrat, Rep. Mark Takano.
Members of the House Veterans Affairs Committee discussed numerous ideas Tuesday.
They included rapid retraining programs to support veterans out of work due to the pandemic. Another idea was to tighten up the GI Bill, to make sure various eligible institutions all provide quality education to American veterans.