These stories in the news, via Disability Scoop...
UNEMPLOYMENT RATE
New figures from the U.S. Department of Labor show a steep decline in the unemployment rate for Americans with disabilities.
The jobless rate for this population fell to 8.7 percent last month, according to the federal agency's monthly jobs report released recently. That's down significantly from 11.3 percent the month prior.
The change reflects a growing number of people with disabilities in the workplace relative to the size of this demographic.
At the same time, the labor situation remained little changed for the general population with the overall unemployment rate increasing just slightly to 5 percent as the economy added 156,000 jobs.
"The improvement in the proportion of people with disabilities working continues to outpace improvements made by people without disabilities,"said a researcher.
Federal officials began tracking employment among people with disabilities in October 2008. There is not yet enough data compiled to establish seasonal trends among this population, so statistics for this group are not seasonally adjusted.
Data on people with disabilities covers those over the age of 16 who do not live in institutions. The first employment report specific to this population was made available in February 2009. Now, reports are released monthly.
SPEECHLESS
Just two episodes in, a television comedy starring a teen with cerebral palsy is proving so popular that network executives are already committing to more.
ABC said it has ordered a full season of "Speechless" calling the family comedy one of the season's most critically-acclaimed new shows.
The announcement means "Speechless" will get an additional nine episodes beyond what was initially planned.
"Speechless" focuses on the experiences of the DiMeo family, including son JJ who has cerebral palsy and is nonverbal. JJ is played by Micah Fowler who has a less severe form of the disability in real life.
The show was the number two new comedy on television during premiere week among adults ages 18 to 49, ABC said, drawing an average of 6.9 million viewers.
"Speechless" airs Wednesdays at 8:30 ET on ABC.
Note: Please see my review of "Speechless" elsewhere in this blog.
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