Benefits January 19, 2010

Study Claims Disabled Workers See Higher Unemployment Rate

January 19, 2010 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - A nationwide provider of Social Security disability representation and Medicare services says that throughout 2009, unemployment for people with disabilities significantly outpaced the unemployment rate for other workers.
Reported by

Allsup Disability Study: Income at Risk shows unemployment averaged 14.8% for people with disabilities, compared to 9.3% for people with no disabilities, according to non-seasonally adjusted data from the U.S. Department of Labor, a press release said.

Monthly unemployment rates for people with disabilities showed a slight easing since the record-high 16.9% rate in August. For October, the unemployment rate for people with disabilities was 16.5%, declining to 13.8% in December.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics also reported that in December about 40% of those unemployed had been jobless for 27 weeks or more, according to the press release.

In addition, the study found disability applications rose to 2,816,244 during 2009 compared to 2,320,396 for 2008 – a 21.4% increase in initial SSDI claims year to year and the largest year-to-year increase in the number of new SSDI claims since the SSDI program began in 1956.

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