The national birth rate fell to 39 births per 1,000 girls ages 15 through 19, according to a government report. It was a 6 percent decline from the previous year and the lowest since health officials started tracking the rate in 1940. Still, teenage moms account for about 10 percent of the nation's births.
Experts largely attribute the downturn in overall births to the poor economy. The state experienced the same trend last year, according to vital statistics from the Utah State Health Department, available at health.utah.gov/vitalrecords. Ogden Standard-Examiner
