Persons with a Disability: Labor Force Characteristics Summary

For release 10:00 a.m. (ET) Thursday, February 22, 2024 		            USDL-24-0349

Technical information:  (202) 691-6378  *  cpsinfo@bls.gov  * www.bls.gov/cps 
Media contact:          (202) 691-5902  *  PressOffice@bls.gov


                 PERSONS WITH A DISABILITY: LABOR FORCE CHARACTERISTICS -- 2023
                 
                 
In 2023, 22.5 percent of people with a disability were employed--the highest recorded ratio
since comparable data were first collected in 2008. This rate increased by 1.2 percentage 
points from the prior year, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Similarly, 
the employment-population ratio for those without a disability, at 65.8 percent, increased
by 0.4 percentage point in 2023. The unemployment rate for people with a disability (7.2 
percent) was little changed in 2023, while the rate for those without a disability was 
unchanged over the year at 3.5 percent.

The data on people with a disability are collected as part of the Current Population Survey
(CPS), a monthly sample survey of about 60,000 households that provides statistics on 
employment and unemployment in the United States. The collection of data on people with a 
disability is sponsored by the Department of Labor's Office of Disability Employment Policy. 
For more information, see the Technical Note in this news release.

Highlights from the 2023 data:

 --Half of all people with a disability were age 65 and over, nearly three times larger
  than the share for those with no disability. (See table 1.)

 --For all age groups, the employment-population ratio was much lower for people with a 
  disability than for those with no disability. (See table 1.)

 --Unemployment rates were much higher for people with a disability than for those with 
   no disability across all educational attainment groups. (See table 1.)

 --Workers with a disability were nearly twice as likely to work part time as workers with 
   no disability. (See table 2.)

 --Workers with a disability were more likely to be self-employed than those with no 
   disability. (See table 4.)

Demographic characteristics

People with a disability accounted for about 13 percent of the population in 2023. Those with 
a disability tend to be older than people with no disability, reflecting the increased incidence 
of disability with age. In 2023, 50 percent of people with a disability were age 65 and over, 
compared with 18 percent of those with no disability. Overall, women were somewhat more likely 
to have a disability than men, partly reflecting the greater life expectancy of women. Among the 
major race and ethnicity groups, Blacks and Whites continued to have a higher prevalence of
disability than Hispanics and Asians. (See table 1.)

Employment

In 2023, the employment-population ratio for people with a disability increased by 1.2 percentage 
points to 22.5 percent. The employment-population ratio for people with a disability in 2023 was 
the highest recorded ratio since comparable data were first collected in 2008. The ratio for those 
with no disability increased by 0.4 percentage point to 65.8 percent in 2023. The lower ratio among
people with a disability reflects, in part, the older age profile of people with a disability; older 
workers are less likely to be employed regardless of disability status. However, across all age 
groups, people with a disability were much less likely to be employed than those with no disability. 
(See tables A and 1.)

In 2023, the employment-population ratio for people with a disability ages 16 to 64 rose by 2.3 
percentage points to 37.1 percent, while the ratio for people without a disability in the same age 
range increased by 0.6 percentage point to 75.0 percent. Among people age 65 and over, the 
employment-population ratio for those with a disability was little different from the prior year 
(7.9 percent) and the ratio for those with no disability was unchanged (at 23.0 percent). 
(See table A.)

People with a disability were less likely to have completed a bachelor's degree or higher than 
those with no disability. Among both groups, those who had attained higher levels of education
were more likely to be employed than were those with less education. In 2023, across all levels
of education, people with a disability were much less likely to be employed than their counterparts
with no disability. (Educational attainment data are presented for those age 25 and over.) 
(See table 1.)

Workers with a disability were more likely to be employed part time than were those with no 
disability. About 29 percent of those with a disability usually worked part time compared with 
about 16 percent of workers without a disability. About 3 percent of workers with a disability 
worked part time for economic reasons. These individuals were working part time because their 
hours had been cut back or because they were not able to find a full-time job. (See table 2.)

In 2023, people with a disability were more likely to work in service occupations than were 
those with no disability (19.4 percent compared with 16.1 percent). Workers with a disability
were more likely than those with no disability to work in production, transportation, and 
material moving occupations (14.5 percent compared with 12.3 percent). People with a disability
were also more likely to work in sales and office occupations than were their counterparts with
no disability (20.4 percent and 18.7 percent, respectively). People with a disability were much
less likely to work in management, professional, and related occupations than were those without
a disability (37.4 percent compared with 43.9 percent). (See table 3.)

A larger share of people with a disability were self-employed than were those with no disability 
in 2023 (8.4 percent versus 5.9 percent). Those with a disability were slightly more likely to be
employed by the federal government than were their counterparts with no disability (3.2 percent
and 2.5 percent, respectively), while the proportions of people employed by state and local 
governments were about the same regardless of disability status. In contrast, people with a 
disability (77.5 percent) were less likely to be employed as private wage and salary workers than
were those with no disability (80.6 percent). (See table 4.)

Unemployment

The unemployment rate for people with a disability was 7.2 percent in 2023, about twice that of
those with no disability (3.5 percent). (Unemployed people are those who did not have a job, were
available for work, and were actively looking for a job in the 4 weeks preceding the survey.)
The unemployment rate for people with a disability was little changed in 2023, while the rate for
people without a disability was unchanged from the prior year. (See tables A and 1.)

In 2023, the unemployment rates were the same for men and women with a disability--7.2 percent. 
These rates were little different from a year earlier. Among people with a disability, the jobless 
rate for Blacks decreased by 2.1 percentage points to 10.2 percent in 2023, while the rates for 
Whites (6.7 percent), Asians (7.0 percent), and Hispanics (9.2 percent) were little changed over 
the year. (See table 1.)

Not in the labor force

People who are neither employed nor unemployed are considered not in the labor force. A large 
proportion of people with a disability--about three-fourths--were not in the labor force in 2023,
compared with nearly one-third of those with no disability. In part, this too reflects the older 
age profile of people with a disability; people age 65 and over are much less likely to participate
in the labor force than younger age groups. Across all age groups, however, people with a disability
were more likely to be out of the labor force than those with no disability. (See table 1.)

For both people with and without a disability, the vast majority of those who were not in the labor 
force did not want a job. In 2023, 3 percent of those with a disability wanted a job, lower than the 
6 percent of those without a disability. Among those who wanted a job, a subset is classified as 
marginally attached to the labor force. These individuals wanted and were available to work and had 
looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months. They were not counted as unemployed because they 
had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey. (People marginally attached to the 
labor force include discouraged workers.) About 1 percent of people with a disability were marginally 
attached to the labor force in 2023. (See table 5.)