State unemployment continues to drop

California’s unemployment dropped in February.

Employers throughout the state added 29,400 jobs during the second month of the year, as the state’s jobless rate fell to 6.7 percent, according to data released Friday by the state Employment Development Department.

The jobless rate was down from seven percent during the previous month and from eight percent in February 2014. It was also the lowest unemployment rate recorded in California since May 2008.

Overall, there were more than 1.2 million unemployed people in California in February, a drop of 42,00 month-over-month and a decline of 217,000 compared with the previous year, the report stated.

The U.S. jobless rate was 5.5 percent in February.

Last month, professional and business services added 114,300 job statewide, the most of any sector. Construction added 43,400 jobs, a jump of 6.5 percent year-over-year and the largest percentage gain of any sector.

Riverside and San Bernardino counties recorded jobless rates of 6.9 and 6.7 percent respectively during February. All unemployment data is based on a federal study of 5,500 California households.