Honolulu’s 5 percent unemployment in October was the 42nd lowest rate of the nation’s 372 metropolitan areas, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday.

Honolulu’s jobless rate was down from 5.9 percent in October 2011.

It was one of 329 metropolitan areas in which the unemployment rate declined on a year-over-year basis, according to the BLS.

Bismarck, N.D., had the lowest unemployment rate at 2.2 percent in October as it benefited from an oil and gas drilling boom. The nation’s highest jobless rate, 29.8 percent, was in Yuma, Ariz., where there are a lot of migrant farm workers.

The BLS does not adjust metropolitan area unemployment data for seasonal variations, such as hiring by retailers for the holiday shopping season.