An increasing number of Americans with disabilities are job hunting, new government data suggests.

The unemployment rate for people with disabilities ticked up last month to 10.4 percent, a rise over the 9.3 percent jobless rate reported the month prior, the U.S. Department of Labor said Friday.

Meanwhile, the economy as a whole added 215,000 jobs in July and the unemployment rate for the general population remained steady at 5.3 percent, according to the Labor Department.

Despite the month-to-month dip in employment among people with disabilities, figures for July reflect an improvement over the same period last year when unemployment for this population was at 12.1 percent.

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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