November 5, 1998 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

3 of 10 persons with severe disabilities are active in the labor market

Approximately 30 percent of persons aged 20 to 64 years with severe disabilities either worked, looked for a job, or were on layoff during the last four months of 1994. This contrasts with activity rates of 81.6 percent for those with moderate disabilities and 84.5 percent among persons with no disabilities.

[Chart data—TXT]

The pattern of lower rates of labor market activity among persons with severe disabilities and broadly similar rates among those with moderate or no disabilities occurred in many demographic groups.

Among labor market participants, persons with disabilities—moderate or severe—were more likely than those with no disability to report that they were looking for work or were on layoff. While just 4.6 percent of workers with no disabilities were looking for work or on layoff during the month before the survey, 8.0 percent of workers with moderate disabilities and 13.3 percent of workers with severe disabilities were looking for work or on layoff.

For more information, see "Persons with disabilities: Labor Market Activity, 1994", Monthly Labor Review, September 1998. Data in this report are a product of the Survey of Income and Program Participation, Bureau of the Census.