First Official Data Released on Employment of People with Disabilities

On February 6, 2009, the U.S. Department of Labor released the first official data on the employment status of persons with disabilities. In January 2009, the unemployment rate of persons with a disability was 13.2 percent, compared with 8.3 percent for persons with no disability. The employment-population ratio for persons with a disability was 20 percent, compared with 65 percent for persons with no disability.

The first set of data covers October 2008 through January 2009. In the future, data will be updated monthly.

These data provide, for the first time, an official monthly measure of the labor force situation for people with disabilities. Beginning in June 2008, the Department of Labor's Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) sponsored the addition of new disability questions to the Current Population Survey (CPS), which provides comprehensive information on the employment status of the civilian, non-institutional population 16 years of age and older.

This new information will assist the nation in understanding how changing labor market conditions affect Americans with disabilities. The addition of these questions allows analysis of the labor force situation for persons with disabilities to be based on the same concepts that are already used for other groups. And, using the data to formulate policy recommendations, ODEP will target its training, technical assistance, research, and dissemination efforts around this data series.

"Now that so many Americans are suffering job losses, there is a tremendous amount of attention being paid to employment problems and solutions affecting the general population. Americans with disabilities typically experience similar employment difficulties — even when there is a robust economy. The economic downturn may just exacerbate their struggle. These data will go far toward efforts to increase the employment of people with disabilities," said John Davey, deputy assistant secretary for ODEP.

Employment status of the civilian noninstitutional population by sex, age, and disability status, not seasonally adjusted
(Numbers in thousands)
(Adapted from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Web site)

Employment status, sex, and age	Persons with a disability		Persons with no disability
	Dec. 2008	Jan. 2009	Dec. 2008	Jan. 2009
TOTAL, 16 years and over
Civilian noninstitutional population	26,896	26,804	208,139	207,934
Civilian labor force	6,197	6,184	148,152	147,261
Percent of population in labor force	23.0	23.1	71.2	70.8
Employed	5,436	5,368	137,914	135,068
Employment-population ratio	20.2	20.0	66.3	65.0
Unemployed	761	816	10,238	12,193
Unemployment rate	12.3	13.2	6.9	8.3
Not in labor force	20,699	20,620	59,987	60,673
Men, 16 to 64 years
Civilian labor force	2,808	2,824	75,877	75,343
Percent of population in labor force	37.8	38.5	84.1	83.7
Employed	2,409	2,345	69,814	68,086
Employment-population ratio	32.5	32.0	77.4	75.7
Unemployed	398	479	6,063	7,257
Unemployment rate	14.2	17.0	8.0	9.6
Not in labor force	4,612	4,510	14,304	14,658
Women, 16 to 64 years
Civilian labor force	2,478	2,500	66,777	66,276
Percent of population in labor force	32.5	33.0	72.4	71.9
Employed	2,169	2,197	62,874	61,678
Employment-population ratio	28.5	29.0	68.1	66.9
Unemployed	309	303	3,903	4,598
Unemployment rate	12.5	12.1	5.8	6.9
Not in labor force	5,145	5,065	25,513	25,884
Both sexes, 65 years and over
Civilian labor force	911	860	5,498	5,643
Percent of population in labor force	7.7	7.2	21.4	21.9
Employed	857	826	5,227	5,304
Employment-population ratio	7.2	6.9	20.4	20.6
Unemployed	54	34	271	339
Unemployment rate	6.0	3.9	4.9	6.0
Not in labor force	10,943	11,044	20,170	20,130

Visit the ODEP Web site for additional information.