On a Positive Note,

workplace suicides have gone up in this country thanks to the booming economy:

The US suicide rate rose by 5 percent from 1999 to 2005, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. There were 33,185 total suicides in the United States in 2007, according the the Centers for Disease control, but figures for 2008 are not yet available.

“There is a correlation between suicide and unemployment rates,” Dr. Paula Clayton, medical director at the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, told Bloomberg.com. She said that the number of calls to suicide hotlines have increased in the recent period.

These figures make clear the devastating impact of the economic crisis on workers. While the unemployment rate fell slightly last month for the first time since the recession began, it is expected to reach 10 percent by the end of the year, and remain much higher than its previous rate for years to come. Credit card defaults and foreclosures are near record rates, while workers’ incomes are falling and social services are being cut back.