REPORT FINDS ONE THIRD OF SUICIDES ARE AMONG MIDDLE-AGED WHITES

NEW YORK Middle- aged white people now account for a third of all suicides in the U.S., a new government report shows.

Suicide is the nation’s 10th leading cause of death, and the rate rose 24 per cent in 15 years, according to the report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Suicides have long been most common among white people — particularly older white males. But most striking in the new report is the growth in whites ages 45 to 64.

There were nearly 43,000 U. S. suicides in 2014, up about a quarter from 1999. More than 14,000 of them were middle-aged whites — twice the combined total for all blacks, Hispanics, Asians, Pacific Islanders, American Indians, and Alaska Natives.

In other words, a group that represents 18 per cent of the population accounted for 33 per cent of the suicides.