U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao Comments on Veterans' Unemployment Report

WASHINGTON, April 10 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today, the U.S. Department of
Labor's Bureau for Labor Statistics (BLS) released their biennial report "The
Employment Situation of Veterans: 2007."

"Today's BLS report shows that veterans' overall unemployment rate is lower
than the rest of the workforce -- 3.8 percent for 2007 compared to 4.4 percent
for non-veterans," said Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao. "This shows that
employers continue to value the leadership and skills of our nation's veterans
and that this administration's efforts to encourage the hiring of veterans are
reaping results."

The BLS report states that the rate for veterans who have served since
September 2001 is 6.1 percent, and the rate for 18- to-24-year-old male
veterans who have served since September 2001 is 11.2 percent, not
statistically dissimilar than the rate for young male non-veterans, which is
10.5 percent. The unemployment rate for all disabled veterans was 3.4 percent
in August 2007, essentially the same as the rate for nondisabled veterans,
which was 3.5 percent.

In addition, the department's Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment
Rights Act (USERRA) enforcement efforts are proving effective, as the report
shows that as of August 2007, veterans who are current or past members of the
National Guard or Reserves who have served since September 2001 had a lower
unemployment rate of just 2.6 percent.

For more information on all the veterans' employment programs offered by the
Veterans' Employment and Training Service, visit www.dol.gov/vets.

To read the report, visit www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/vet.pdf

SOURCE U.S. Department of Labor

Mike Biddle, +1-202-693-5051; or Otto Heck, +1-202-693-4672 of the U.S.
Department of Labor