CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — Nevada's unemployment rate has dipped below 12 percent for the first time in nearly three years.

The Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation says Friday that the state's jobless rate was 11.7 percent in April, down from 12 percent the month earlier and 13.6 percent the year earlier.

Las Vegas' jobless rate was 11.6 percent in April, down from 12 percent in March, and Reno's rate was 11.4 percent, also down from 12 percent.

Carson City's unemployment is 11.8 percent, a drop from March's rate of 12.4 percent.

State economist Bill Anderson says the job growth was positive at 0.5 percent in April, but notes that the unemployment figures are also going down because people are dropping out of the workforce.

National unemployment is lower than Nevada's, at 8.1 percent.