National Trends in Disability Employment (nTIDE) – Issued semi-monthly by Kessler Foundation and the University of New Hampshire
East Hanover, NJ – February 3, 2023 – More jobseekers with disabilities entered the labor market in January, providing a potential resource for the current boom in job openings, according to today’s National Trends in Disability Employment – Monthly Update (nTIDE), issued by Kessler Foundation and the University of New Hampshire’s Institute on Disability (UNH-IOD). Declines in the employment-to-population ratios for people with and without disabilities may reflect the impact of the Federal Reserve’s efforts to curtail inflation and/or seasonal effects.
Month-to-Month nTIDE Numbers (comparing December 2022 to January 2023)
Based on data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Jobs Report released today, the labor force participation rate for people with disabilities (ages 16-64) increased from 39.0 percent in December 2022 to 39.6 percent in January 2023 (up 1.5 percent or 0.6 percentage points). For people without disabilities (ages 16-64), the labor force participation rate decreased slightly from 76.9 percent in December 2022 to 76.8 percent in January 2023 (down 0.1 percent or 0.1 percentage points).
“More people with disabilities are striving to work, as indicated by January’s rise in their labor force participation rate. Also, the news is filled with reports that employers have dramatically increased the number of available jobs,” remarked Andrew Houtenville, PhD, professor of economics and research director of the UNH-IOD. “Next month, we will see whether these trends lead to increased employment for people with disabilities,” he added.
January 2023 saw declines in employment-to-population rates. For people with disabilities (ages 16-64) the employment-to-population ratio decreased from 37.0 percent in December 2022 to 36.7 percent in January 2023 (down 0.8 percent or 0.3 percentage points). Similarly, the employment-to-population ratio of people without disabilities (ages 16-64) decreased from 74.4 percent in December 2022 to 73.9 percent in January 2023 (down 0.7 percent or 0.5 percentage points). The employment-to-population ratio, a key indicator, reflects the percentage of people who are working relative to the total population (the number of people working divided by the number of people in the total population multiplied by 100).
“Contrary to the upward trends seen in the past few months, the employment-to-population ratio for people with disabilities fell in January,” said John O’Neill, PhD, director of the Center for Employment and Disability Research at Kessler Foundation. “Considering that this downward trend was also true for people without disabilities, we may be seeing the impact of the Federal Reserve’s efforts to curb inflation by slowing economic growth and/or a decline in seasonal employment,” he noted.
