Nearly 90,000 Apply For Disability, December Record

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Investors Business Daily:

Nearly 90,000 workers signed up for federal disability benefits in December — the biggest increase for that month in the program's history — according to data released Friday by the Social Security Administration.

As a result, there are now more than 8.8 million workers collecting Social Security disability insurance (SSDI), a new high, as the explosive growth in the program continues unabated.

The December increase also means that more than 4 million workers have enrolled in SSDI under President Obama. Even after counting those who dropped off the disability rolls, either because they died, reached retirement age or were kicked off the program, that represents a net increase of 1.4 million.

By way of comparison, the net growth in jobs under Obama has been just 291,000. In other words, the ranks of the disabled grew almost four times faster than the number of jobs created over the past four years.

The massive growth in disability is an indication of the historically sluggish job growth that has occurred since the economic recovery got under way in June 2009.

As Social Security Administration chief actuary Stephen Goss told Congress, "when employment is good, when employers are trying to employ lots of people, people with impairments, like everyone else, find it easier to find a job."