Unemployment rose for people with disabilities in March, indicating that more people with disabilities are looking for work, according to today’s National Disability Employment Trends (nTIDE) COVID Update. While unemployment has fallen for people without disabilities, they have yet to reach their pre-pandemic employment levels.
March data showed an increase in unemployment for people with disabilities and a decrease for people without disabilities. The number of workers on temporary layoff has fallen for both groups, as the Mountain chart shows, according to nTIDE expert Andrew Houtenville, PhD, professor of economics at the University of Hampshire (UNH) and director of UNH Institute research on disability. “Despite the March movements, people with disabilities continue to fare better in the labor market than their non-disabled counterparts,” Dr. Houtenville said. “Looking back to January 2020, people with disabilities are surpassing their pre-pandemic employment levels, while people without disabilities have yet to reach those levels.”
Dr. Houtenville attributed the rise in unemployment among people with disabilities to the increase in the number of people looking for work. “We have to remember that those who seek are counted in the unemployment figures,” he said. “The reopening of shops and the resurgence of seasonal opportunities are fueling the job market. And as the effects of the pandemic fade and public health efforts continue, more people may feel more comfortable entering the workforce,” he added. .
“It is important to consider other factors that may motivate job seekers with disabilities, who are more likely to live in poverty and may be disproportionately affected by rising inflation,” noted Dr. Houtenville. “In addition, we are seeing the return of professional services and supports and an increase in referrals for these services. As service-based logistics improve and become accessible to job seekers, we should see more people transition from job search to employment.
Field Notes
Disability employment stakeholders are seeing signs of this shift in employment services, according to Elaine E. Katz, MS, CCC-SLP, senior vice president of grantmaking and communications to the Kessler Foundation. “Referrals to service providers are on the rise in New Jersey, and providers are hiring more staff,” she reported. The return to in-person services promises to benefit many professional coaches and the clients they serve. “For work coaches, providing services remotely was challenging,” Katz noted. “For many workers with disabilities, the shift to remote/hybrid work has hampered their ability to socialize, network and participate in in-person job training.”
In New York, Job Path NYC is seeing a return to part-time job coaches, after an 80% drop during the pandemic, according to nTIDE co-author John O’Neill, PhD, director of the Center for Employment and Disability Employment Research at the Kessler Foundation. Dr. O’Neill is a board member of Job Path NYC, a non-profit organization that provides personalized employment services to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. “Most Job Path NYC job coaches are recruited from local students. Now that colleges and universities are returning to in-person learning, hiring for these positions is picking up, and as a result, more Job Path clients with disabilities are working or preparing for employment.