The effects of differential unemployment rate increases of occupation groups on changes in mortality.

OBJECTIVES This study estimated the effects of changes in unemployment rates of occupation groups on changes in mortality in a period of increasing unemployment. METHODS Census records for all 20- to 64-year-old economically active Finnish men in 1985 were linked to information on unemployment and deaths in 1987 through 1993. RESULTS Change in mortality was similar in occupation groups in which unemployment rates increased at a different pace. These relationships were similar for all age groups and for mortality from diseases as well as accidents and violence. CONCLUSIONS Unemployment does not seem to cause mortality in the short term. Excess mortality rates among unemployed individuals observed in previous studies may have been due in part to selection.