Change you can believe in.
More workers joined the federal government's disability program in
June than got new jobs, according to two new government reports, a clear
indicator of how bleak the nation's jobs picture is after three full
years of economic recovery.
The economy created just 80,000 jobs in June, the Bureau of Labor
Statistics reported Friday. But that same month, 85,000 workers left the
workforce entirely to enroll in the Social Security Disability
Insurance program, according to the Social Security Administration.
The disability ranks have outpaced job growth throughout President
Obama's recovery. While the economy has created 2.6 million jobs since
June 2009, fully 3.1 million workers signed up for disability benefits.
In other words, the number of new disability enrollees has climbed
19% faster than the number of jobs created during the sluggish recovery.
(Even after accounting for people who left the disability program
because they died or aged into retirement, disability ranks have climbed
more than 1.1 million in the past three years.)
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