For the main analysis, we relate data on school shootings and unemployment rates at a monthly frequency for the sample period 1990-2013, at the US national, regional, and county levels. Data on school shootings are obtained from Pah et al (2017), containing 381 events from six original datasets pertaining to school violence.1 Events are included on the basis of three inclusion criteria: (1) the shooting must involve a firearm being discharged, even if by accident; (2) it must occur on a school campus; and (3) it must involve students or school employees, either as perpetrators, bystanders or victims