Work-related injuries resulted in the deaths of 20 people in Hawaii in 2017, nine less than in the previous year, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday.

Nationwide, there were 5,147 fatal work-related injuries in 2017, a slight drop from 5,190 in 2016.

The bureau reported that 2.2 of every 100,000 full-time workers in the islands were fatally injured, compared to the U.S. average of 3.5 workers. Alaska had the highest rate of work- related deaths at 10.2 per 100,000 workers, while New Hampshire, New Jersey and Rhode Island had the lowest rate at 1.6.

“Hawaii’s service-oriented economy usually results in a lower fatality rate than other states that have industrial bases that include larger manufacturing, extractive and agricultural sectors,” said Bill Kunstman of the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations.

Hawaii’s occupational fatalities decreased while overall employment rose, said Matt Insco, a bureau economist.

“More jobs could equal more fatalities, but in this case it was the opposite,” he said.

Ten transportation incidents accounted for half the local job fatalities in 2017, while falls, slips and trips accounted for five deaths. Nationally, 40 percent of all fatal work injuries were the result of transportation mishaps.

“These two major categories accounted for 75 percent of all workplace fatalities in the state,” the BLS said.

Deaths were the highest in the private sector at 13, with the construction industry accounting for the most fatalities, while there were seven in the public sector and six in federal government jobs.

Nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses in the islands in the same period totaled 18,000, with 15,700 in the private sector, the BLS said. The most common types of injury were sprains, strains and tears, with 3,080, or 64 for every 10,000 full-time workers.

Ninety percent of the state’s work-related fatalities involved men. Seventy percent of those killed were between the ages of 25 and 54 compared to 55 percent nationwide.

Hawaii deaths while on the job were the highest in 2001 at 41 and the lowest in 2013 at 11.