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Employment of people with a disability in 2018

March 01, 2019

The employment–population ratio for people with a disability was 19.1 percent in 2018. The ratio increased from 2017 to 2018. The ratio for those without a disability, at 65.9 percent, edged up in 2018. In 2018, the employment–population ratio among women age 16 and older with a disability increased to 16.4 percent. The ratio for women without a disability, at 60.2 percent, was little changed from 2017 to 2018. The employment–population ratio among men age 16 and older with a disability, at 22.3 percent, was little changed in 2018, while the ratio for men without a disability increased to 71.9 percent.

Employment–population ratios by disability status and sex, 2009–2018
Year Persons without a disability, 16 and older Men without a disability, 16 and older Women without a disability, 16 and older Persons with a disability, 16 and older Men with a disability, 16 and older Women with a disability, 16 and older

2009

64.5% 69.6% 59.7% 19.2% 22.4% 16.5%

2010

63.5 68.6 58.6 18.6 21.9 15.7

2011

63.6 69.1 58.4 17.8 21.1 14.9

2012

63.9 69.7 58.4 17.8 21.4 14.8

2013

64.0 69.9 58.4 17.6 20.9 14.8

2014

64.6 70.6 58.9 17.1 20.0 14.5

2015

65.0 71.1 59.2 17.5 20.4 14.9

2016

65.3 71.5 59.5 17.9 21.3 15.0

2017

65.7 71.7 60.0 18.7 22.0 15.8

2018

65.9 71.9 60.2 19.1 22.3 16.4

The lower ratio among people with a disability reflects, in part, the older age profile of people with a disability; older people 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.

Percent distribution of employed persons by disability status and occupation, 2018
Occupational group Total with a disability Total with no disability Men with a disability Men with no disability Women with a disability Women with no disability

Management, professional, and related occupations

33.7% 40.3% 31.0% 36.8% 37.0% 44.3%

Service occupations

19.0 17.2 15.6 13.7 23.0 21.1

Sales and office occupations

23.1 21.4 16.2 15.7 31.2 27.9

Natural resources, construction, and maintenance occupations

10.3 9.3 18.1 16.5 1.1 1.0

Production, transportation, and material moving occupations

13.9 11.8 19.2 17.2 7.7 5.8

Of the five major occupation groups, people with a disability were more concentrated in service occupations than those with no disability (19.0 percent, compared with 17.2 percent). Workers with a disability were also more likely than those with no disability to work in production, transportation, and material moving occupations (13.9 percent, compared with 11.8 percent). People with a disability were less likely to work in management, professional, and related occupations than those without a disability (33.7 percent, compared with 40.3 percent).

These data are from the Current Population Survey. For more information, see “Persons with a Disability: Labor Force Characteristics — 2018.” For more statistics on people with a disability, see Demographics: Disability.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Employment of people with a disability in 2018 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2019/employment-of-people-with-a-disability-in-2018.htm (visited March 28, 2024).

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