The number of suicides in Japan increased again amid the economic doldrums in 2009, staying above 30,000 for the 12th straight year, the National Police Agency said Tuesday in a preliminary report. À´Ô´£º¿¼ÊÔ´ó

The tally totaled 32,753 in the reporting year, the fifth largest on record and up 504 from 2008 when it fell by 844 from the year before. It has remained over 30,000 since 1998.

Men accounted for 23,406 of the total and women 9,347.

The rise apparently reflected the economic slump as the number of monthly suicides topped 3,000 from March to May in line with the tendency of people with economic problems to commit suicide around the time a business year ends. Most Japanese companies close books on March 31.

The monthly breakdown has stayed high since a double-digit surge to above 3,000 in October 2008, following the ‘‘Lehman shock’’ collapse of U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc in September that year.

The government of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has set up an emergency task force to address the high suicide numbers. One of its measures has been to staff some of the ‘‘Hello Work’’ public job placement offices with mental health professionals since last November.

By prefecture, the 2009 figures rose by more than 100 in Saitama and Chiba, but dropped by that much in Osaka and Hokkaido, the agency said.