SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California’s unemployment rate fell slightly in October, to 11.7 percent, from 11.9 percent a month earlier, as the state added jobs in construction, education, health services and leisure and hospitality, the state Employment Development Department said Friday.

The rate has hovered above 12 percent for months and has been stuck above 11 percent since 2009. California’s is the second highest in the nation, behind Nevada, which had a rate of 13.4 percent in September, the most recent data available.

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