Vets Out of Work: Numbers are Up But Prospects are Good

"Thanks for serving -- sorry we don't have anything for you."

That's the message more and more recently returned veterans are receiving from employers these days when they apply for jobs. The unemployment rate for veterans ages 18-24 last month was 21.1 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics -- more than double the national average (9.7 percent).

The number of veterans in the United States is an astounding 22.2 million. Upward of 1.9 million have been deployed since 9/11.

"More than than 220,000 military members complete their service obligations or retire every year, and just about all of them are looking for a civilian job," says Lisa Rosser, a veteran herself who has started The Value Of a Veteran, a consulting service that specializes in educating human resource professionals on the best practices for finding, recruiting, and retaining military service members.