Results of a longitudinal study on older blue-collar workers in the Federal Republic of Germany ([1] Soc. Sci. Med. 25, 173-178, 1987) showed that people who retired out of unemployment improve in depression similar to those people who found a job. Furthermore, financial problems and disappointed hope were important in the development of depression in the unemployed. These results are relevant for measures to alleviate depression in the unemployed in three areas: early retirement and an increase of financial unemployment compensation are recommended. Furthermore, all those programs (like counseling or therapeutic programs) that increase hope to find a job without increasing the chances to find a job have to be viewed with skepticism because they might actually turn out to be dysfunctional.