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Personal income grew faster in Utah than any state between the first and second quarter this year, and the Salt Lake metro area had the lowest unemployment rate in August among the nation's largest metro areas.

The good news came in a pair of federal economic reports issued Wednesday.

Personal income grew by 1.4 percent in Utah between the first and second quarter, according to a report by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Nationally, the rate grew by 1.0 percent. The lowest growth among the states was in Alaska, at 0.4 percent.

Just behind Utah atop the national rankings were Nebraska, Idaho and Oregon, all at 1.3 percent seasonally adjusted growth.

Some industries in Utah where earnings grew the fastest between the quarters were in management of companies, up 3.35 percent; arts, entertainment and recreation, up 3.15 percent; real estate, up 2.7 percent; professional, scientific and technical services, 1.91 percent; and health care, 1.88 percent.

The only major industry category where overall earnings decreased between quarters was in educational services, down 0.38 percent.

Meanwhile, a separate U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report said the Salt Lake metro area had an unemployment rate in August of 3.2 percent, which tied with Denver as the lowest among the nation's 51 metro areas with populations of 1 million or more.

The highest unemployment rate among that group was in Riverside-San Bernardino, Calif., at 6.6 percent.

The report said 34 of the 51 large metro areas saw unemployment rates drop over the previous 12 months, 12 had increases and five had no change.

The report said the unemployment rate in the Salt Lake metro area dropped to 3.2 percent from 3.5 percent in the previous August.

The unemployment rates in other smaller, Utah metro areas in August were: Provo-Orem, 3.1 percent; Ogden-Clearfield, 3.4 percent; Logan, 3.0 percent; and St. George, 3.5 percent.