After a one-month reprieve, the unemployment rate for Americans with disabilities shot up in May, the U.S. Department of Labor said Friday.

The jobless rate grew to 15.6 percent in May for those with disabilities, up from 14.5 percent the previous month.

The increase erases all of the improvements seen in April when unemployment dropped for the first time in three months. One reason for the rise is that more Americans with disabilities sought work in May.

At the same time, the employment situation for the general population remained steady last month, with unemployment at 9.1 percent as the economy added just 54,000 jobs. That’s up slightly from 9 percent in April.

The Labor Department 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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