Unfortunately, high unemployment rates do not translate into higher disability approval rates.

The United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, has recently released a summary on employment changes during October 2008.  Nationwide, the number of unemployed persons increased by over 600,000 people.  Clearly, the job market is taking a hit and jobs are becoming harder to find.  Other national news sources report that the October numbers were the worst in sixteen years.  The Bureau's report can be seen at:

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm

You might think that with so many jobs being lost it would be easier to be approved for Social Security disability.  After all, more people are applying for fewer jobs.  Who is going to hire someone with obvious limitations when there are so many healthy and able-bodied people trying to land the few jobs?  Clients ask me that all of the time -- what kind of employer would hire them.  They assume the Social Security Administration takes the job market into consideration.  Unfortunately, Social Security disability claim managers don't care that no one will actually hire sick or injured people in bad times.

The test for someone applying for Social Security disability benefits is whether the applicant is capable of performing substantial gainful employment.  In practical terms, this means that Social Security asks whether the applicant is able to earn a little under $1,000 a month.  If jobs exist in the national economy that the applicant can physically and mentally perform, then they are not disabled according to Social Security rules.  It does not matter that the job pays less than what the applicant used to make, that the applicant has no interest in the jobs available, or that no employer would ever hire the applicant.

It would make sense for the Social Security Administration to lower its standards when the job market is so competitive.  After all, a person's ability to work when restricted by physical and mental impairments is partly dependent on the jobs he or she is able to find.  I think it also depends on whether employers will hire individuals with disabilities.  Why would employers take a chance when so many people without jobs are available to hire?  Let's hope the Social Security Administration will take the bad economy into consideration when developing new rules and policies.  Otherwise, I predict the backlogs will only increase.