June 11, 2008 -- U.S. life expectancy has hit a new record: 78.1 years for babies born in 2006, says the CDC. What's more, the death rate for 11 of the top 15 causes of death -- including heart disease, cancer, and stroke -- slowed in 2006. That's what the CDC's preliminary data show, based on some 2.4 million deaths in 2006. Here are the highlights from the CDC's report.

Life Expectancy Life expectancy in 2006 is about four months longer than it was in 2005, according to the CDC. White women continue to have the longest life expectancy, followed by African-American women, white men, and African-American men. Those patterns have held since 1976, though all groups have seen their life expectancy improve during that time. Here are the 2006 life expectancy figures for each of those groups: White women: 81 years

African-American women: 76.9 years

White men: 76 years

African-American men: 70 years