- Floridians with disabilities experience the biggest jobs gains of any state, with more than 35,000 people with disabilities entering the workforce.
- Employers hire more people with disabilities as they find that recruiting, hiring and retaining employees with disabilities benefits their bottom line.
Washington, D.C., Feb. 22 – As America’s governors gather in Washington for the National Governors Association meeting, new statistics show that Americans with disabilities are entering the workforce in unprecedented numbers for the first time. New data from the Institute on Disability at the University of New Hampshire reveals that 343,483 more people with disabilities joined the American workforce in 2016. This compares to only 87,201 in the previous year. Even while Americans with disabilities are entering the workforce in greater numbers, serious gaps in employment exist between different states. For example, 54 percent of working-age people with disabilities in North Dakota have jobs, while only 27.4 percent of people with disabilities in West Virginia are employed.