Inequalities in US Life Expectancy by Area Unemployment Level, 1990–2010
Table 1
Life expectancy at birth (in years) by area unemployment level, race/ethnicity, and sex, United States, 1990–1992 and 2006–2010.
2006–2010
1990–1992
Difference, 1990–2010
Both sexes
Males
Females
Both sexes
Males
Females
Both sexes
Males
Females
LE
95% CI
LE
95% CI
LE
95% CI
LE
95% CI
LE
95% CI
LE
95% CI
Unemployment level, total US population
<3.00%
80.7
80.7–80.8
78.6
78.6–78.7
82.7
82.7–82.8
78.2
78.1–78.2
75.1
75.0–75.2
81.1
81.0–81.2
2.5
2.4–2.6
3.5
3.4–3.6
1.6
1.5–1.7
3–5.99%
79.0
79.0–79.0
76.5
76.5–76.5
81.4
81.4–81.4
76.8
76.8–76.8
73.4
73.4–73.5
79.9
79.9–80.0
2.2
2.2–2.2
3.1
3.1–3.1
1.5
1.5–1.5
6–8.99%
77.9
77.0–77.9
75.2
75.2–75.2
80.5
80.5–80.5
75.2
75.2–75.2
71.5
71.5–71.5
78.9
78.8–78.9
2.7
2.7–2.7
3.7
3.7–3.7
1.6
1.5–1.5
≥9.00%
76.9
76.8–77.0
74.1
74.0–74.1
79.8
79.8–79.9
73.5
73.4–73.5
69.5
69.4–69.5
77.5
77.4–77.5
3.4
3.4–3.4
4.6
4.5–4.7
2.3
2.2–2.4
Low−high unemployment areas1
3.8
3.8–3.8
4.5
4.4–4.6
2.9
2.8–3.0
4.7
4.6–4.8
5.6
5.5–5.7
3.6
3.5–3.7
Unemployment level, whites
<3.00%
80.7
80.6–80.7
78.5
78.5–78.6
82.7
82.6–82.7
78.4
78.3–78.4
75.3
75.2–75.4
81.2
81.2–81.3
2.3
2.2–2.4
3.2
3.1–3.3
1.5
1.4–1.6
3–5.99%
79.1
79.1–79.1
76.7
76.7–76.7
81.5
81.5–81.5
77.2
77.2–77.2
73.9
73.9–74.0
80.3
80.3–80.4
1.9
1.9–1.9
2.8
2.8–2.8
1.2
1.2–1.2
6–8.99%
78.3
78.3–78.3
75.8
75.8–75.8
80.9
80.8–80.9
76.0
76.0–76.0
72.4
72.4–72.5
79.5
79.5–79.6
2.3
2.3–2.3
3.4
3.4–3.4
1.4
1.4–1.4
≥9.00%
77.8
77.7–77.8
75.1
75.1–75.2
80.4
80.4–80.5
74.8
74.8–74.9
71.1
71.1–71.2
78.6
78.5–78.6
3.0
2.9–3.1
4.0
3.9–4.1
1.8
1.7–1.9
Low−high unemployment areas
2.9
2.9–3.0
3.4
3.3–3.5
2.3
2.2–2.4
3.6
3.5–3.7
4.2
4.1–4.3
2.6
2.5–2.7
Unemployment level, blacks
<3.00%
78.6
78.5–78.8
76.2
76.0–76.5
80.7
80.5–82.9
73.5
73.2–73.9
69.7
69.3–70.2
77.2
76.7–77.6
5.1
4.7–5.5
6.5
6.0–7.0
3.5
3.0–4.0
3–5.99%
75.5
75.5–75.5
72.3
72.3–72.4
78.4
78.3–78.4
70.8
70.7–70.9
66.5
66.4–66.6
74.9
74.8–75.0
4.7
4.6–4.8
5.8
5.7–5.9
3.5
3.4–3.6
6–8.99%
73.8
73.8–73.8
70.3
70.2–70.3
77.0
77.0–77.1
69.1
69.1–69.2
64.2
64.2–64.3
73.9
73.9–74.0
4.7
4.6–4.8
6.1
6.0–6.2
3.1
3.0–3.2
≥9.00%
73.9
73.9–74.0
69.9
69.9–70.0
77.5
77.4–77.6
68.5
68.5–68.6
63.2
63.1–63.4
73.6
73.5–73.7
5.4
5.3–5.5
6.7
6.6–6.8
3.9
3.8–4.0
Low−high unemployment areas
4.7
4.5–4.9
6.3
6.0–6.6
3.2
3.0–3.4
5.0
4.7–5.3
6.5
6.1–7.1
3.6
3.1–4.1
Unemployment level, American Indians, and Alaska Natives
<3.00%
85.3
84.5–86.0
83.0
82.0–84.1
87.2
86.2–88.2
a
a
a
a
a
a
3–5.99%
82.6
82.5–82.8
80.4
80.1–80.6
84.7
84.6–84.9
80.6
80.3–81.0
76.7
76.2–77.2
84.1
83.6–84.6
2.0
1.6–2.4
3.7
3.2–4.2
0.6
0.1–1.1
6–8.99%
81.3
81.2–81.5
78.9
78.7–79.1
83.5
83.3–83.7
80.4
80.2–80.7
76.1
75.7–76.4
84.6
84.2–85.0
0.9
0.6–1.2
2.8
2.4–3.2
−1.1
−1.5, −0.7
≥9.00%
76.6
76.4–76.8
73.2
73.0–73.5
80.0
79.7–80.2
72.9
72.6–73.2
68.4
68.0–68.8
77.6
77.2–78.0
3.7
3.4–4.0
4.8
4.3–5.3
2.4
1.9–2.9
Low−high unemployment areas
8.7
7.9–9.5
9.8
8.7–10.9
7.2
6.2–8.2
7.7
7.2–8.2
8.3
7.7–8.9
6.5
5.9–7.1
Unemployment level, Asians and Pacific Islanders
<3.00%
88.2
88.0–88.4
86.0
85.7–86.4
90.0
89.7–90.3
86.0
85.4–86.6
84.2
83.2–85.2
87.6
86.8–88.3
2.2
1.6–2.8
1.8
0.8–2.8
2.4
1.6–3.2
3–5.99%
87.1
87.1–87.2
84.9
84.8–84.9
89.0
89.0–89.1
82.4
82.3–82.5
79.6
79.5–79.8
85.3
85.1–85.4
4.7
4.6–4.8
5.3
5.1–5.5
3.7
3.5–3.9
6–8.99%
85.7
85.6–85.7
83.0
82.9–83.0
88.1
88.0–88.2
83.0
82.9–83.1
80.0
79.9–80.2
86.0
85.8–86.1
2.7
2.6–2.8
3.0
2.8–3.2
2.1
1.9–2.3
≥9.00%
85.7
85.6–85.9
83.0
82.8–83.2
88.3
88.1–88.5
82.6
82.3–83.0
79.6
79.2–80.1
86.1
85.6–86.6
3.1
2.7–3.5
3.4
2.9–3.9
2.2
1.7–2.7
Low−high unemployment areas
2.5
2.2–2.8
3.0
2.6–3.4
1.7
1.3–2.1
3.4
2.7–4.1
4.6
3.5–5.7
1.5
0.6–2.4
Unemployment level, Hispanics
<3.00%
86.8
86.6–87.1
85.4
85.0–85.8
88.3
88.0–88.6
84.1
83.6–84.7
80.6
79.7–81.6
86.7
86.0–87.5
2.7
2.1–3.3
4.8
3.8–5.8
1.6
0.8–2.4
3–5.99%
83.0
83.0–83.1
80.4
80.4–80.5
85.5
85.4–85.5
82.0
81.9–82.1
78.2
78.1–78.4
85.8
85.6–85.9
1.0
0.9–1.1
2.2
2.0–2.4
−0.3
−0.5, −0.1
6–8.99%
82.3
82.3–82.4
79.4
79.4–79.5
85.1
85.0–85.1
79.5
79.4–79.5
75.3
75.2–75.4
83.7
83.6–83.7
2.8
2.7–2.9
4.1
4.0–4.2
1.4
1.3–1.5
≥9.00%
80.7
80.7–80.8
77.7
77.6–77.8
83.6
83.5–83.7
77.3
77.2–77.4
73.1
73.0–73.2
81.5
81.3–81.6
3.4
3.3–3.5
4.6
4.4–4.8
2.1
1.9–2.3
Low−high unemployment areas
6.1
5.4–6.8
7.7
7.3–8.1
4.7
4.4–5.0
6.8
6.2–7.4
7.5
6.5–8.5
5.2
4.5–5.9
Life expectancy estimates for non-Hispanic whites were similar to those for whites. LE = life expectancy. CI = confidence interval. a = insufficient data. 1Difference in life expectancy between low unemployment areas (rate < 3.00%) and high unemployment areas (rate ≥ 9.00%). Source: based on data from the US National Vital Statistics System, 1990–2010 [20, 21].