Introduction The highest suicide rates in the U.S. have been found among males in construction, mining, and extraction occupations. In recent years, the rate has increased dramatically, which may reflect the lack of economic opportunities for miners.

Objectives We examined the impact of job loss, both permanent and temporary, on risk of suicide and overdose among a cohort of 11,817 male miners from the Diesel Exhaust in Miners Study II.

Methods We calculated directly standardized age-adjusted incidence rates per 100,000 person-years from 1947 through 2015 by calendar period. We fit Cox models to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) for suicide and overdose in relation to leaving work, age at leaving work, and intermittent time-off work. Separate models were fit for job loss pre- and post-1980 to examine effect modification by time period as the industry curtailed its workforce in the early 1980s.

Results The age-adjusted incidence suicide/overdose death rate was 64.7 (95% CI: 56.4, 73.9) per 100,000. Suicide deaths peaked between 1980 and 1989 at 67.2 before declining. Based on 248 suicides and overdoses, miners who left work were more likely to die by suicide/overdose compared to those remained at work (HR 1.59 (95% CI: 1.10, 2.29)). Effect modification by decade was present as the HRs for suicide/overdose and age at leaving work differed significantly between the stratified analyses (job loss pre-1980 vs. post-1980). Among miners who left work prior to 1980, HRs for age at leaving work and suicide/overdose were null. Yet, among miners with post-1980 job loss, leaving work before age 30 and between ages 30–40 increased the risk of suicide/overdose compared with leaving work after age 55 (1.94 (1.05, 3.58) and 1.46 (0.78, 2.72), respectively).

Conclusions Our results suggest an elevated risk of suicide among male miners in the 1980s, and that the risk increases after leaving work.