This table provides metadata for the actual indicator available from United States statistics closest to the corresponding global SDG indicator. Please note that even when the global SDG indicator is fully available from American statistics, this table should be consulted for information on national methodology and other American-specific metadata information.
Indicator |
Unemployment rate by disability status, sex, and age, 2009-23 annual averages |
---|---|
Organisation |
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics/Current Population Survey |
Definition and concepts |
The unemployment rate represents the number of unemployed persons as a percent of the civilian labor force. Unemployed persons are those who had no employment during the reference week, were available for work at that time, and had made specific efforts to find employment sometime during the 4-week period ending with the reference week. Persons who were waiting to be recalled to a job from which they had been laid off need not have been looking for work to be classified as unemployed. The civilian labor force comprises all persons classified as employed or unemployed. The CPS uses a set of six questions to identify persons with disabilities. In the CPS, persons are classified as having a disability if there is a response of ““yes”” to any of these questions: 1. Is anyone deaf or does anyone have serious difficulty hearing? 2. Is anyone blind or does anyone have serious difficulty seeing even when wearing glasses? 3. Because of a physical, mental, or emotional condition, does anyone have serious difficulty concentrating, remembering, or making decisions? 4. Does anyone have serious difficulty walking or climbing stairs? 5. Does anyone have difficulty dressing or bathing? 6. Because of a physical, mental, or emotional condition, does anyone have difficulty doing errands alone such as visiting a doctor’s office or shopping? |
Unit of measure |
Percent |
Data sources |
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics/Current Population Survey - https://www.bls.gov/cps/home.htm |
Data providers |
BLS Division of International Technical Cooperation staff |
Comment and limitations |
The questions noted above were added to the CPS in June 2008 to identify persons with a disability in the civilian noninstitutional population age 16 and older. The collection of these data is sponsored by the Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy. Statistics based on the CPS are subject to both sampling and nonsampling error. When a sample, rather than the entire population, is surveyed, there is a chance that the sample estimates may differ from the true population values they represent. The component of this difference that occurs because samples differ by chance is known as sampling error, and its variability is measured by the standard error of the estimate. There is about a 90-percent chance, or level of confidence, that an estimate based on a sample will differ by no more than 1.6 standard errors from the true population value because of sampling error. BLS analyses are generally conducted at the 90-percent level of confidence. The CPS data also are affected by nonsampling error. Nonsampling error can occur for many reasons, including the failure to sample a segment of the population, inability to obtain information for all respondents in the sample, inability or unwillingness of respondents to provide correct information, and errors made in the collection or processing of the data. Additional information about the reliability of data from the CPS and estimating standard errors is available at www.bls.gov/cps/documentation.htm#reliability. CPS estimates are controlled to population totals that are available by age, sex, race, and Hispanic ethnicity. These controls are developed by the Census Bureau and are based on complete population counts obtained in the decennial census. In the years between decennial censuses, they incorporate the latest information about population change (births, deaths, and net international migration). As part of its annual update of population estimates, the Census Bureau introduces adjustments to the total population controls. The updated controls typically have a negligible impact on unemployment rates and other ratios. The estimates of the population of persons with a disability are not controlled to independent population totals of persons with a disability because such data are not available. Without independent population totals, sample-based estimates are more apt to vary from one time period to the next. Information about population controls is available at www.bls.gov/cps/documentation.htm#pop. |
Method of computation |
Source: Current Population Survey (CPS) - a monthly national sample household survey. Technical Documentation and Methodology: https://www.bls.gov/cps/documentation.htm |
Date of national source publication |
February 2024 |
Periodicity |
Annual |
Scheduled update by national source |
Annual data for 2024 will be available in February 2025 |
Date metadata updated |
July 2024 |
Disaggregation categories |
Disability status, sex, and age |
International and national references |
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics - www.bls.gov |
Time period |
2009-2023 |