Labor force characteristics of people with a disability

This week BLS published a news release examining the labor force characteristics in 2012 of people with a disability. This topic is of increasing interest to people in many communities, including persons with a disability and their families, job counselors, therapists, and policymakers. Here are a few of the key facts mentioned in the release. In 2012, 17.8 percent of people with a disability were employed. That compares with an employment-population ratio of 63.9 percent for people without a disability. The lower ratio among those with a disability results, in part, from the fact that a large share of people with a disability are age 65 and older, and older persons are less likely to be employed. Across all age groups, however, people with a disability were much less likely to be employed than those with no disability. Among the employed, 33 percent of workers with a disability were employed part time, compared with 19 percent of those with no disability. Employed persons with a disability also were more likely to be self-employed than those with no disability.