Jobless rate for disabled remains high in US

Although US unemployment continues to fall, the jobless rate for people with disabilities remains disproportionately high.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the overall US unemployment rate stood at 7.9% in 2012, falling to 7.1% in 2013. By contrast, the rate for the disabled only fell from 13.4% in 2012 to 13.2% in 2013.

Some possible factors cited for this disparity include disabled people's fear that a job will cut the benefits they receive, as well as employers' hesitation to hire people with disabilities.

IZA World of Labor’s Ulf Rinne has found evidence to suggest that anonymous job applications may be the way forward in eliminating hiring discrimination. He discusses how this levels the playing field in access to jobs, boosting job offer rates for minority candidates.

Nevertheless, unemployment rates result from countless factors. Our author Dan-Olof Rooth suggests that correspondence testing studies can allow us to better understand reasons for hiring or not hiring candidates.

Read more here.

Related articles:
Anonymous job applications and hiring discrimination, by Ulf Rinne
Correspondence testing studies, by Dan-Olof Rooth