Monthly updates on two data streams we monitor for you and provide downloadable data.
MILITARY SUICIDES: Potential suicides among inactive U.S. Army reservists troops are up 25% through March compared to the same period a year ago, data from the Army shows. The number of potential suicides among active duty soliders is down 9%.
Reserve inactive suicides drove the increase, with 20 more potential suicides in the first quarter vs. 2012. The number of potential active duty suicides declined by four.
Army suicides were up significantly last year compared to a year earlier — 325 either confirmed or under investigation among active duty and inactive reservists, compared to 283 confirmed the year before. Across all military branches, active duty suicides were up 16% over 2011, with the Army comprising the largest share, data released earlier this year show.
View more data, including downloadable spreadsheets.
UNEMPLOYMENT: Unemployment among 9/11-era veterans dropped slightly in March compared to the month before — 9.2% vs. 9.4%, but edged up slightly for women to 11.8% compared to 11.6%, new federal data shows.
The rate for 9/11-era women was up from a year ago — 8% v. 7.4% — while the overall rate for men and women combined was down to 7.1% from 7.5%.
The rate for all veterans in March was up slightly to 7.1% from a month earlier, but showed improvement over the 7.5% rate in March 2012. A total of 783,000 veterans were unemployed in March. Of those, 207,000 — or 26% — were in the service since 9/11. The civilian unemployment rate in March was 7.4%.