Chicago — Nov. 9

Despite higher than average unemployment rates, employment prospects for U.S. military veterans may be improving.

According to a new CareerBuilder study, 29 percent of employers say they are actively recruiting veterans to work for their organizations, up 9 percentage points from a year ago. Twenty-two percent are planning to add members of the National Guard to their headcount, up 8 percentage points.

Moreover, 65 percent said they would be more likely to hire a veteran over another equally qualified candidate. The survey was conducted by Harris Interactive of more than 2,600 employers nationwide from Aug. 13 to Sept. 6.

Employers are looking to leverage the technical and leadership skills of military personnel, with 3 in 10 hoping to fill information technology positions with veterans.

The most common areas for hiring U.S. service men and women are:

• Information technology — 30 percent.
• Customer service — 23 percent.
• Engineering — 22 percent.
• Sales — 20 percent.
• Manufacturing — 20 percent.
• Business development — 15 percent.

Source: CareerBuilder