East Hanover, New Jersey—August 7, 2026—More working-age people with disabilities entered the labor market in July, even as labor force participation among people without disabilities remained unchanged, according to the latest National Trends in Disability Employment (nTIDE) report. The monthly analysis, issued by Kessler Foundation and the University of New Hampshire’s Institute on Disability, draws on employment data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and compares labor market conditions for Americans ages 16 to 64 with and without disabilities.
The report shows that the employment-to-population ratio for people with disabilities rose from 38.0 percent in June to 38.3 percent in July. This measure represents the proportion of the entire working-age population that is employed, including both people who are in the labor force and those who are not seeking work. The increase amounted to 0.3 percentage points, or approximately 0.8 percent relative to the June figure. Among people without disabilities, the ratio also edged upward, moving from 74.8 percent to 75.0 percent.
The more significant shift appeared in labor force participation. For people with disabilities, the rate climbed from 41.8 percent in June to 42.4 percent in July, an increase of 0.6 percentage points. The labor force participation rate includes people who are employed, actively seeking work, or temporarily absent from a job because of a layoff or furlough. By contrast, participation among people without disabilities held steady at 78.2 percent in both months. The contrasting results suggest that more people with disabilities were available for work or actively searching for jobs, even though the increase in employment itself was comparatively modest.
John O’Neill, director of Kessler Foundation’s Center for Employment and Disability Research, said the improved employment-to-population ratios may partly reflect seasonal hiring. Summer typically brings increased demand for workers in hospitality, tourism, food service, recreation, and related industries. These sectors can generate short-term employment opportunities, although the extent to which such jobs provide stable hours, benefits, or long-term advancement varies widely. Seasonal patterns are therefore an important factor when interpreting a single month of employment data.
Andrew Houtenville, professor of economics and director of the University of New Hampshire’s Institute on Disability, pointed to economic pressure as another possible explanation for the increased participation of people with disabilities. Rising prices can encourage people to seek employment or increase their working hours, particularly when household income is already constrained. People with disabilities experience poverty at higher rates than people without disabilities, making changes in food, housing, transportation, health care, and energy costs especially consequential. When participation rises more rapidly than the employment-to-population ratio, economists infer that additional people are entering the labor market without all of them immediately finding jobs.
The year-to-year comparison presents a stronger improvement for people with disabilities. From July 2025 to July 2026, their employment-to-population ratio increased from 37.0 percent to 38.3 percent, a gain of 1.3 percentage points, or 3.5 percent. Over the same period, the ratio for people without disabilities declined slightly from 75.1 percent to 75.0 percent. Although the change for people without disabilities was small, the widening difference highlights the persistent employment gap between the two groups: people with disabilities remained far less likely to be employed relative to their total working-age population.
Annual labor force participation figures showed a similar divergence. For people with disabilities, participation rose from 41.6 percent in July 2025 to 42.4 percent in July 2026, an increase of 0.8 percentage points, or 1.9 percent. Among people without disabilities, participation fell from 78.5 percent to 78.2 percent, a decrease of 0.3 percentage points. These statistics do not measure unemployment directly, but they help distinguish between people who are outside the labor force and those who are working or making an active effort to find employment.
In July, approximately 6.69 million employed people with disabilities accounted for 4.4 percent of the nation’s 151.261 million workers ages 16 to 64. The figure underscores both the scale of disability employment and the continuing underrepresentation of people with disabilities in the workforce. Employment outcomes are shaped by accessibility, transportation, workplace flexibility, health conditions, discrimination, education, job training, and the availability of assistive technologies. A change in monthly statistics can therefore reflect not only economic demand, but also whether employers and communities are reducing barriers that prevent qualified people from obtaining and keeping jobs.
The July nTIDE findings were discussed during a live Lunch and Learn webinar hosted by the report’s research team. Guest presenters Jeff Friedman and Javier Robles of Rutgers University joined O’Neill, Houtenville, and Lillie Heigl, director of policy at the Association of University Centers on Disabilities. The monthly nTIDE project adapts national labor statistics to focus specifically on working-age adults with and without disabilities, providing a recurring measure of how economic conditions affect disability employment. The initiative is supported by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living and Rehabilitation Research and Kessler Foundation, and its latest figures indicate that labor market engagement among people with disabilities is rising, even as substantial disparities remain.
Subject of Research: Employment and labor force participation trends among working-age people with and without disabilities in the United States.
Article Title: Labor Force Participation Rises for People with Disabilities as Summer Employment Lifts July Figures
News Publication Date: August 7, 2026
Web References: Kessler Foundation: https://kesslerfoundation.org/ ; University of New Hampshire Institute on Disability: https://www.researchondisability.org/ ; nTIDE archives: http://www.researchondisability.org/nTIDE ; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics July 2026 Jobs Report: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm
References: July 2026 National Trends in Disability Employment report issued by Kessler Foundation and the University of New Hampshire’s Institute on Disability; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics employment data.
Image Credits: Kessler Foundation
Keywords: disability employment, labor force participation, employment-to-population ratio, nTIDE, Kessler Foundation, University of New Hampshire, Bureau of Labor Statistics, workforce trends, accessible employment, labor market data
