Big increase in US suicides at work

The number of people who killed themselves at work in the US rose 28% to an all-time high last year, in a grisly statistic that sparked speculation it was due to stress linked to the economic recession. Annual figures from the US department of labour revealed that "self-inflicted" deaths in the workplace rose from 196 to 251. The rise came against a backdrop of falling occupational fatalities from accidents - the number of people who died at work through any cause fell 10% to 5,071. There was no immediate explanation for the increase. A spokesman for the Bureau of Labour Statistics said the agency intended to research the surge in suicides more extensively. But anecdotal evidence has pointed to the financial crisis and soaring unemployment as factors causing anxiety, stress and mental hardship. Lanny Berman, executive director of the American Association of Suicidology, said that although the statistical jump required investigation through a case-by-case study, it "clearly has potential implications related to the threat of unemployment and it has implications related to dissatisfaction and rage about the quality of the work experience".