People with disabilities have been among the greatest beneficiaries of the strong post-pandemic rebound in the labor market.
And on Friday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics added another data point to this trend.
Among that group, the number of employed individuals climbed by approximately 175,000 in June to 7.6 million, the BLS said, higher than at any point since June 2008, the earliest year for which data is available.
As a percentage, the employment-to-population ratio for disabled individuals also now stands at a record high of 22.4%.
“It’s continuing to grow — and moving up every month it seems like,” said Allison Chase, president and CEO of The Able Trust, a Florida-based nonprofit focused on the disabled community. “It’s unprecedented, and we’re really excited about it.”
Experts say the job gains are the result of continued steady labor demand thanks to an ongoing shortage of workers in many parts of the economy, as well as the decreasing stigma of work-from-home as a result of the pandemic.
The BLS reported Friday that the U.S. added 209,000 jobs, with the unemployment rate falling to 3.6%.
Chase noted that basic transportation is one of the biggest barriers many people with disabilities have faced when looking for work.
The post-pandemic remote-work boom, she said, has helped to eliminate that obstacle.
“It’s something that many people with disabilities have wanted for a long time,” Chase said. “Once you take it [transportation] out of the equation, a lot of jobs open up.”
