This was a decline from the rate of 5.0 cases per 100 equivalent full-time workers reported by BLS for 2003 and resulted from a 2.5 percent decrease in the number of cases reported combined with a 1.6 percent increase in the number of hours worked.

Goods-producing industries as a whole had an injury and illness rate of 6.5 cases per 100 equivalent full-time workers, while service-providing industries as a whole had a rate of 4.2 cases per 100 equivalent full-time workers. Both of these rates declined by 0.2 cases per 100 equivalent full-time workers from the rates reported for 2003.

Among the goods-producing industry sectors, incidence rates during 2004 ranged from 3.8 cases per 100 full-time workers in mining, to 6.6 cases per 100 full-time workers in manufacturing. Within the service-providing industry sectors, incidence rates ranged from 0.9 cases per 100 full-time workers in the finance and insurance sector, to 7.3 cases per 100 full-time workers in transportation and warehousing.

Among all private industry sectors only the utilities sector experienced a significant increase in the injury and illness rate, rising from 4.4 cases per 100 equivalent full-time workers in 2003 to 5.2 cases in 2004.

Approximately 2.2 million injuries and illnesses were cases with days away from work, job transfer or restriction. The remaining 2.0 million injuries and illnesses were other recordable cases that did not result in time away from work. The incidence rate for cases with days away from work, job transfer or restriction was 2.5 cases per 100 workers, and the rate for other recordable cases was 2.3. Both of these rates decreased by 0.1 cases per 100 equivalent full-time workers from 2003.