WEST ORANGE, N.J.: Megan Helsel, a kayaking wildlife specialist, has her dream job, and T'angelo Magee is making headway toward his, a commercial pilot. Both say work is central to their identity. Both are disabled.
With the U.S. unemployment rate at just 3.7per cent - roughly a half-century low - employers have increasingly considered job applicants they often overlooked in the first stages of what is now a record-long economic expansion. New technology has helped Helsel and other disabled people to get on an employer's payroll. Widely-used apps include Venmo, which allows mobility-challenged workers to easily bill customers, and iPhone's VoiceOver, which lets visually impaired workers conduct business.
It is part of a two-year strengthening of the job market for disabled Americans, a rebound from the 2008 recession, which obliterated jobs for disabled workers at a faster rate than for those without disabilities, said John O'Neill, director of employment and disability research at Kessler Foundation.
Less clear, however, is whether that hard-won recovery can last through what some economists say is an impending recession.