SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Utah's unemployment rate is down to 5.2 percent after state officials report a seasonally adjusted 8,700 jobs added between September and October.
The state Department of Workforce Services reports Friday that the October job count is nearly 1.3 million, up about 2.3 percent from the same time a year ago.
October's unemployment rate is down from 5.4 percent in September. It's also significantly lower than the national rate of 7.9 percent.
The industries leading the job growth are professional and business services, and trade, transportation, and utilities.
Construction and government are the two sectors that lost jobs year-over-year.
State officials say the jobless rate had been declining from its peak in 2009 due to people leaving the workforce, but say it's now going down because people are finding jobs.
(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
