The jobless rate for Americans with disabilities trended sharply upward for the first month of 2014, the U.S. Department of Labor said Friday.

Unemployment rose to 13.3 percent in January for people with disabilities. That’s up from 11.9 percent the previous month.

Not only were fewer people employed, but government data suggests that more people with disabilities dropped out of the labor force in January, giving up on applying for work entirely.

Meanwhile, the unemployment rate for the general population fell just slightly to 6.6 percent as 113,000 jobs were added to the economy during the first month of the year.

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.

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