Troops Returning, Increased Unemployment?

[james12]

On a previous thread there was a discussion about our troops returning from Iraq. Here is the thread: http://www.lds.net/forums/current-events/42943-all-troops-coming-home-iraq-2.html A question arose that was not directly related, here is the general question:

With troops returning will unemployment increase?

My comment was:

What will happen to the unemployment rate? So long as the government reduces spending proportionately it will go down! Even if they don't it's still positive. Public money spent supporting the troops will now not be needed. Soldiers who once fought will now add useful capital to the economy. (This idea that there is a limited amount of work must go away.) Oh, there may be a very short time where the public sector needs to adjust to account for the influx to the labor market but other than this short term issue it is all positive. Bring them home!

LittleWayvern posted this good comment:

It's a little more complicated than that. There's a statistic in economics called the job seeker's ratio. Here's a graph:

That number means that for every 4.6 job seekers (in August, at least) there is one job. Basically, roughly 3 in 4 job seekers will not find a job no matter what they do. I think this issue of jobs for our troops needs to be taken a bit more seriously.

So what will happen to the economy?

Edited October 23, 2011 by james12

[Dravin]

Is the number of released troops significant in the national scheme of things? According to this source ( Employment Situation Summary ) we're looking at 14 million unemployed. While dumping 40,000 more people (assuming everyone being recalled is being discharged) certainly doesn't make matters better, it represents a rather small increase all things considered. Now that's not to downplay the personal impact of those not being able to find jobs, it's just does 14,040,000 instead of 14,000,000 people being unemployed change things much for the national economy?

Edited October 23, 2011 by Dravin

[annewandering]

There is no information that I know of that says the troops are being discharged. I do know that some are not being reenlisted. More so that usual. Other than that I am guessing we will need to wait and see.

[prisonchaplain]

Many companies, and nearly all government agencies offering hiring preferences for veterans. I'm not suggesting more cannot be done, but there are motivations for employers to give special consideration to returning soldiers.

[talisyn]

I'm just glad they're coming home.

[AGStacker]

Bring all the troops home! If I were you I'd be more worried about the inevitable collapse of America. There is no way we can pay off our debt. America will be in a depression bigger than the Great Depression in 1-3 years.

[Blackmarch]

On a previous thread there was a discussion about our troops returning from Iraq. Here is the thread: http://www.lds.net/forums/current-events/42943-all-troops-coming-home-iraq-2.html A question arose that was not directly related, here is the general question:

With troops returning will unemployment increase?

My comment was:

LittleWayvern posted this good comment:

So what will happen to the economy?

I think its going to be a case of if government really starts to cut spending we will see unemployment increase, rather than justs the military.