The suicide rate has surged 40% in the U.S. over less than two decades, with blue-collar workers — particularly mining, oilfield, construction and auto-repair workers — at a significantly higher risk, according to new research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC analyzed suicide rates by industry and occupational groups by gender using data from the 32 states that participated in the 2016 National Violent Death Reporting system. Researchers examined the suicide rates by profession for 20,975 people between the ages of 16 and 64. For both men and women, construction and “extraction” workers, mostly in the mining or oil and gas fields, had the highest suicide rates, the CDC found in research published Thursday.