Design, Materials, and Methods: The number of suicides in Japan has increased to over 30,000 per year since 1998. The collapse of the bubble economy occurred in about 1990, and unemployment rates in Japan increased rapidly starting 1998. The present study investigated the suicide rate in Okayama Prefecture in the period between 1990 and 2000 as well as the unemployment rate, ratio of job offers to applicants, and ratio of new job offers to new applicants throughout Japan during the same period. Correlation between annual suicide rates and the annual unemployment rate, the annual ratio of job offers to applicants, and the annual ratio of new job offers to new applicants was calculated. Results, and Conclusion: During the study period, the suicide rate by sex was 23.0 males and 10.8 females per 100,000 population. Annual suicide rates in males correlated significantly with the unemployment rate [r(11) = 0.87, p < 0.001 (y = 4.77x (7.49)] while the rates in females did not [r(11) = 0.41, p = 0.20 (y = 0.65x t 8.64)]. Therefore, annual suicide rates overall correlated remarkably with the unemployment rates among males but not with the same rates among females. Annual suicide rates in males displayed a significant reverse correlation with the ratio of job offers to applicants [r(11) = 0.70, p = 0.02 (y = -9.71x ( 34.61)] while the rates in females did not correlate with this ratio [r(11) = 0.17, p = 0.62 (y = -0.53x ( 11.41)]. Annual suicide rates in males displayed a rough reverse correlation with the ratio of new job offers to new applicants [r(11) = 0.67, p = 0.02 (y -6.88x ( 36.14)] while the rates in females did not correlate with this ratio [r(I 1) = 0.13, p = 0.70 (y = -0.31x 11.37)]. Therefore, the families of unemployed men and providers of their medical care should pay close attention for indications of suicidal tendencies, and society must pay attention to the rise in unemployment rates, the decline in the ratio of job offers to applicants, and the decline in the ratio of new job offers to new applicants, particularly among males.
