The number of hate crimes against religious groups in the U.S. jumped more than 8 percent during 2008 — the most notable increase in a variety of hate crime statistics reported in data released Monday by the FBI. In all, 7,783 hate crimes were included in the FBI’s 2008 Hate Crime Statistics report. The report covers crimes involving a victim who was targeted because of race, religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity/national origin or disability.

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The FBI’s report reflects only the information gathered by participating law enforcement agencies. Experts warned that the numbers may reflect different standards for what constitutes a hate crime, as well as the inability of some law enforcement agencies to coordinate the report because of budget constraints.

“The most frightening thing about these numbers is what goes unrecorded,” said Janet Murguia, president of the National Council of La Raza, the Hispanic civil rights advocacy group.

Still, the data show a 2 percent overall increase in hate crimes over the previous year, and a rise in each individual category, with one exception: attacks based on ethnic bias or national origin. Crimes based on racial hatred made up the largest number of reported incidents. Last year, agencies across the U.S. reported 3,992 incidents in which someone was victimized because of race — a 3 percent increase from 2007.

Heidi Beirich, director of research at the Alabama-based Southern Poverty Law Center, said she expected to see an increase in the targeting of African-Americans because of the uptick in hate group activity before the election of President Obama.

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