Americans with disabilities had better luck finding jobs as 2012 drew to a close, the Labor Department said Friday.

The unemployment rate for people with disabilities fell in December to 11.7 percent, according to statistics from the U.S. Department of Labor. That’s down from 12.7 percent reported the month prior.

With the decrease, December marked the fourth consecutive month that the unemployment rate declined for Americans with disabilities.

At the same time, the jobless rate remained largely unchanged for the general population at 7.8 percent despite the addition of 155,000 jobs to the economy, officials said.

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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