Orginally posted on Commonwealth Medicine’s Blog:
The U.S. Department of Labor released its latest report in September, and it was more of the same. Unemployment remained at 3.9 percent, where it has hovered for much of the year, but there was a shift for one key demographic.
After decades of struggle, workers with disabilities are beginning to move the needle, outpacing the employment gains of people without disabilities. In August 2018, the employment-to-population ratio for working-age people with disabilities jumped to 30.2 percent from 29.5 percent the year before. The labor force participation rate for working-age people with disabilities also increased, rising from 32.5 percent in August 2017 to 33 percent in August 2018.
These latest numbers mark 30 months of year-over-year gains in the job market for persons with disabilities, according to the National Trends in Disability Employment report, issued by the Kessler Foundation and the University of New Hampshire.
Progress is being made, and it is long overdue…