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Unemployment rate of people with a disability 10.5 percent in 2016

June 26, 2017

The unemployment rate for people with a disability was 10.5 percent in 2016. The rate was little changed for the year but down from 15.0 percent in 2011. The unemployment rate for men with a disability was 10.1 percent in 2016, similar to the unemployment rate for women with a disability (11.0 percent). The unemployment rate for people without a disability was 4.6 percent in 2016, a decline of 0.5 percentage point from 2015.

Unemployment rate by disability status and sex, 2009–16
Year Persons with a disability Persons without a disability
Total Men Women Total Men Women

2009

14.5% 15.1% 13.8% 9.0% 10.1% 7.8%

2010

14.8 15.2 14.3 9.4 10.3 8.4

2011

15.0 15.3 14.7 8.7 9.1 8.2

2012

13.4 13.2 13.7 7.9 8.0 7.7

2013

13.2 13.0 13.5 7.1 7.4 6.8

2014

12.5 12.5 12.5 5.9 6.0 5.8

2015

10.7 10.6 10.8 5.1 5.2 5.0

2016

10.5 10.1 11.0 4.6 4.7 4.6

In 2016, 20.0 percent of people with a disability participated in the labor force and 68.5 percent of people without a disability participated in the labor force. The labor force participation rate for men with a disability increased from 22.8 percent in 2015 to 23.7 percent in 2016. The labor force participation rate for women with a disability, 16.9 percent in 2016, changed little over the year.

Labor force participation rates of persons with a disability by sex, 2009–16
Year Total Men Women

2009

22.4% 26.4% 19.1%

2010

21.8 25.9 18.4

2011

20.9 24.9 17.4

2012

20.6 24.7 17.1

2013

20.3 24.0 17.1

2014

19.5 22.9 16.6

2015

19.5 22.8 16.7

2016

20.0 23.7 16.9

These data are from the Current Population Survey. Unemployment rates are calculated for the civilian noninstitutional population aged 16 and over. For more information, see "Persons with a Disability: Labor Force Characteristics — 2016" (HTML) (PDF). To learn more, see our page of data on people with a disability.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Unemployment rate of people with a disability 10.5 percent in 2016 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2017/unemployment-rate-of-people-with-a-disability-10-point-5-percent-in-2016.htm (visited December 08, 2024).

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