The FBI reported more than 7,600 hate crime incidents in 2007, down about 1 percent from the previous year. The decline was driven by decreases in the two largest categories of hate crimes - crimes against race and religion.

But prejudice against sexual orientation, the third-largest category, increased about 6 percent, the report found.

The FBI report does not compare its data from one year to the next because the number of law enforcement agencies participating in the annual count varies from year to year. More agencies contributed to the 2007 report than the 2006 report, however.

In Utah, the number of hate crimes reported from 2006 to 2007 was about the same, when comparing only cities that reported in both years.

Overall, 28 agencies reported 55 hate crimes during 2007 in Utah. Of those, 19 incidents occurred because of race, 15 because of religion, 12 because of ethnicity and nine because of sexual orientation.

The data released Monday are consistent with previous years. Racial bias remained the most common motive, accounting for more than half of all reported hate crimes. Blacks, Jews and gays were the most frequent victims of hate crimes, the report found.

The FBI report is purely statistical and does not assign a cause for the slight overall decrease or increase in anti-gay hate crimes.

More than a third of all hate crime incidents were categorized as vandalism or property destruction. Intimidation was the second most common hate crime, followed by simple assault.

The report was based on data drawn from 13,241 law enforcement agencies nationwide, covering about 85 percent of the nation's population. By comparison, the broader crime report the FBI puts out every year draws data from about 17,000 law enforcement agencies.

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* JASON BERGREEN contributed to this report.