U.S. longevity at a standstill

Life expectancy in the United States did not increase during 1991, remaining at the 1990 level of 75.4 years. For boys, it was 72.0 years and for girls, 78.8 years. On the other hand, the infant mortality rate continued downward when a new benchmark was achieved--an all-time low, 8.9 per 1,000 live births. Also encouraging was a marked improvement in longevity among black Americans that significantly narrowed the white-nonwhite differential.