Today, the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics released its annual data on disabled people in the U.S. workforce. The numbers suggest that more than a decade of progress is stalling: 22.8 percent of people with a disability were employed in 2025, nearly unchanged from the previous year. That may be on the verge of reversing, as unemployment for disabled workers climbed to 8.3 percent. We have been tracking the steady deterioration of the job market over the course of 2025, and how women of color – especially Black and Indigenous women – have been suffering in the Trump economy. The latest employment data reveal that this economy is also harming disabled workers, with disabled women of color particularly feeling the effects.
These warning signs come after more than a year of sustained attacks on disability rights under President Trump. Trump signed an executive order narrowing civil rights enforcement by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, eliminated efforts to close the loophole that allows some workers with disabilities to be paid subminimum wages under Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act, and ended diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility initiatives. At the same time, he rolled back policies intended to expand disability hiring and retention in the private sector. Today’s numbers reflect the price disabled workers are paying for these hostile policy choices.
After years of small but steady increases, the labor force participation rate of disabled people reached 24.8 percent in 2025 – nearly unchanged from 24.5 in 2024. That’s only about one-third the rate of nondisabled people, illustrating the many barriers that disabled people face in accessing jobs. Disabled women additionally experience discrimination due to sexism as well as challenges from a lack of policies that support caregiving; just 22.6 percent were in the labor force in 2025.
Still, over the past decade disabled workers have increasingly joined the workforce, with the largest gains made by disabled women and disabled people of color. For Black people with a disability, labor force participation increased by more than one-third (39 percent) from 2016 to 2025, compared to 31 percent for Asian workers with a disability, 20 percent for Latino workers with a disability and 21 percent for white workers with a disability. Disabled women’s labor force participation has increased by 34 percent, and disabled men’s by 15 percent, over that time, while declining slightly for workers with no disabilities (0.7 percent).
The modest employment gains for people with disabilities over the past decade coincided with a stronger federal commitment to disability inclusion. In 2017, the federal government strengthened its role as a model employer by setting clearer hiring expectations and improving its accountability within its own agencies. It also required companies that do business with the government to proactively recruit, hire, and retain qualified workers with disabilities, addressing persistent barriers in employer hiring practices. Over the same period, many states adopted model employer initiatives and related policies, elevating disability employment as a measurable workforce goal.
We’ve previously reported on the uptick in unemployment rates over the past year for workers overall. Today’s data reveal that unemployment for disabled workers jumped even more, climbing more than 10 percent between 2024 and 2025. Disabled workers’ unemployment rate was more than double that of nondisabled workers in 2025 (8.3 percent compared to 4.1 percent), and was even higher for Latino workers with disabilities (9.5 percent) and Black workers with disabilities (11.8 percent).
The data released today underscore the urgency of this moment. More people are competing for fewer job openings. The cost of living continues to rise and workers have less room to negotiate just as economic pressures intensify. In this climate, attacks on disability rights and workplace protections risk setting back progress for years. Women with disabilities – and disabled workers more broadly – deserve strong civil rights enforcement, paid family and medical leave, paid sick days, and workplace flexibility that allows them to succeed in the workplace. We must also sustain and strengthen the social safety net programs and public benefits that serve as foundational economic supports for women and families. Without immediate change, the administration’s policies will increase barriers to economic security for disabled women.
