INFANT MORTALITY
In 1999, 9,703 infants born to residents of U.S.
cities with populations over 100,000 died in the first
year of life. The city infant mortality rate was 8.03
deaths per 1,000 live births, 13.7 percent higher
than the rate of 7.06 for the nation as a whole. The
1999 rate of 8.03 represents an almost 8 percent decrease
in the 1995 city infant mortality rate of 8.7.
Although the infant mortality rate in cities has
routinely been higher than the rate in the nation
as a whole, it has steadily declined over the past
decade. Between 1988 and 1998, infant mortality in
cities declined by roughly one-third; the decline
nationwide in the same period was 28 percent.
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