Northwest Arkansas Business Journal - NWABusinessJournal.com

CRI Gives Veterans a Fighting Chance

AS U.S. MILITARY involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan winds down, thousands of troops are returning home to a job market that’s been painfully slow to recover from the recession. About 248,000 veterans recently returned from Iraq and Afghanistan were looking for work in December, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, up from 210,000 in December 2010. Another 33,000 U.S. troops will leave Afghanistan this year, President Obama has said. In December, the national unemployment rate for veterans whose active duty began September 2001 or later was 13.1 percent, compared to the overall national rate of 8.5 percent. John Dillard, who served in the Vietnam War, advocates hiring veterans and providing greater opportunity for veteran-owned businesses. At Central Research Inc., the company... [ MORE ]