NEW YORK — More than half of American smokers tried to quit the habit as the daily use of cigarettes fell, US health officials say.

About 19 percent of US adults, or 43.8 million, reported smoking daily or most days in 2011, little changed from 19.3 percent a year earlier, according to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Thursday. That’s down from more than 20 percent in 2005. About 52 percent of those surveyed reported trying to stop smoking in the preceding year.