Unemployment Up. U.S. Highway Fatalities Down.

There is a downward trend in the number of traffic fatalities nationwide, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. That’s the good news.

The bad news is that part of the reason for the decrease is the increase in unemployment. Fewer jobs means fewer commuters means fewer accidents during rush hour.

While final figures for 2009 have not yet been released, figures for the first nine months indicated the trend in fewer fatalities was continuing downward. But, even before rising unemployment numbers were helping to lower traffic fatalities, the 2008 highway death count at 37,261 represented a drop of 9.7 percent from 2007. Fatalities reported in 2008 hit their lowest level since 1961.