CHEYENNE - Job-related deaths in Wyoming jumped 33 percent in 2007, giving last year the distinction of having the most occupational fatalities since the state began tracking the number in 1993, a new state report shows.

Wyoming saw a dozen more fatalities in 2007 than the previous year, for a total of 48 worker deaths, according to the figures from the Wyoming Department of Employment, Research and Planning.

The rate of increase may be somewhat misleading, however, because the number of deaths in 2006 - 36 - was unusually low, state economist Sara Saulcy said. A total of 43 workers died in 2004 and 46 died in 2005.

"Because we don't have that many (worker deaths) to begin with, one or two accidents can really make a big difference in terms of the percent increase in fatality rates," Saulcy added.

Read more about this story in Friday's Star-Tribune.