Report reveals employment of people with disabilities declines but remains near all-time high

The February 2026 National Trends in Disability Employment (nTIDE) report shows that employment of working-aged people with disabilities declined in January but remains near all-time highs set at the end of 2025. nTIDE is issued monthly by Kessler Foundation and the University of New Hampshire's Institute on Disability.

Due to the recent brief government shutdown, statistics for the month of December were posted yesterday and not the typical first Friday of the month. In November and December of 2025, both the employment-to-population ratio and the labor force participation rate moved well above the plateau that was established after the conclusion of the COVID-19 pandemic. In January, these indicators moved back toward the upper end of that post-pandemic plateau.

Based on data from the BLS Jobs Report and separate nTIDE analysis, the employment-to-population ratio for people with disabilities (ages 16–64) decreased from 38.9% in December 2025 to 38.4% in January 2026 (down 1.3% or 0.5 percentage points). For people without disabilities (ages 16–64), the employment-to-population ratio decreased from 74.8% in December 2025 to 74.5% in January 2026 (down 0.4%, or 0.3 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).

"Employment-to-population ratios in January (38.4%) were at similar all-time highs in November (39.8%) and December (38.9%), and remained higher than most numbers observed during the post-pandemic period," remarked John O'Neill, Ph.D., director of the Center for Employment and Disability Research at Kessler Foundation.

"If these numbers continue to increase, it suggests that people with disabilities are really striving to work and moving beyond the plateau that followed the COVID-19 pandemic."

Similarly, the labor force participation rate for people with disabilities (ages 16–64) decreased from 42.6% in December 2025 to 42.0% in January 2026 (down 1.4% or 0.6 percentage points). For people without disabilities (ages 16–64), the labor force participation rate increased from 77.9% in December 2025 to 78.0% in January 2026 (up 0.1 percentage point).

The labor force participation rate reflects the percentage of people who are in the labor force (working, on temporary layoff, on furlough, or actively looking for work in the last four weeks) relative to the total population (the number of people in the labor force divided by the number of people in the total population multiplied by 100).

"The labor force participation rate followed a similar pattern to the employment-to-population ratio, reverting back towards its post-COVID plateau," said Andrew Houtenville, Ph.D., professor of economics and director of the UNH-IOD. "The next few months will be telling. Will these indicators revert further into the post-COVID plateaus, or will they increase to start new plateaus?" he added.

Compared with the same month last year, the employment-to-population ratio for people with disabilities (ages 16–64) increased from 38.3% in January 2025 to 38.4% in January 2026 (up 0.1 percentage point). For people without disabilities (ages 16–64), the employment-to-population ratio also increased from 74.4% in January 2025 to 74.5% in January 2026 (up 0.1%, or 0.1 percentage points).

The labor force participation rate for people with disabilities (ages 16–64) remained the same at 42.0% from January 2025 to January 2026. For people without disabilities (ages 16–64), the labor force participation rate also increased from 77.7% in January 2025 to 78% in January 2026 (up 0.4%, or 0.3 percentage points).

In January, among workers ages 16–64, the 6,903,000 workers with disabilities represented 4.6% of the total 151,586,000 workers in the U.S.

Provided by Kessler Foundation