PORTLAND - Employment reached its highest level in state history in February as Oregon continued to outpace most of the nation for job growth.

Total nonfarm payroll employment reached nearly 1.68 million with the addition of 132,300 jobs since the end of the recession in July 2003, an increase of 8.4 percent.

The state economy has been growing at more than twice the national rate, with some major industries doing even better, the Oregon Employment Department said Monday.

Over the past 12 months, construction jobs grew at 11.7 percent in Oregon compared to 4.8 percent nationally.

Financial services jobs were up 5.4 percent in Oregon compared to 2.1 percent nationally, educational and health services were up 5.3 percent compared to 2.4 percent, and manufacturing was up 3.4 percent in the state while it was flat or even declining for the rest of the country.

“The total nonfarm employment is at its highest level ever,” said Art Ayre, state labor economist.

It marks a sharp change for Oregon, which led the nation with the highest unemployment rate for more than two years during the recession.

The state now is consistently among the top 10 states for the fastest-growing economies in the nation, and ranked No. 6 with the latest figures, Ayre said.

The Oregon jobless rate nudged upward in February, to 5.6 percent compared to 5.3 percent in January. Ayre said it was likely just a fluke, based on the strong growth trend over the past two years.

The unemployment rate can rise even during periods of job growth, depending on several factors, including population growth and decisions by workers who had stopped looking for jobs to start filling out applications again, he said.

Despite the monthly uptick in the unemployment rate, seasonally adjusted nonfarm payrolls grew by 4,200 jobs in February following a strong start in January that added 8,100 jobs in revised figures for the month.

The February rate was nearly a percentage point below the February 2005 jobless rate of 6.4 percent.

Nationally, the jobless rate was 4.8 percent in February, nearly unchanged from 4.7 percent in January. The national rate also has been falling for more than two years.

Economists predict that job growth will slow by 2007 but so far there is little sign of it in Oregon.

Over the past four months, an average of 6,100 jobs per month have been added - well ahead of the average monthly gain of 3,800 during the first half of 2005.

“We have picked up the pace pretty substantially,” Ayre said. “It is surprising the forecasters.”

Job gains in February were led by construction, financial services, and educational and health services. The only major industry group that lost jobs was trade, transportation and utilities.

Construction added 1,200 jobs at a time of year when only 200 are expected based on seasonal trends.

Financial services gained 1,900 jobs in February after a drop of 500 in January. The industry has grown rapidly over the past year, adding 5,900 jobs since February 2005 based partly on increased home sales and strong corporate profit growth.

Educational and health services bounced back from a January dip of 800 jobs to post a gain of 3,500 in February.

Manufacturing added 800 jobs in February, expanding in Oregon at one of the fastest rates in the nation over the past two years. Over the past 12 months manufacturing is up by 7,100 jobs, or 3.6 percent.

The only major industry to lose jobs over the last 12 months was natural resources and mining, a category that is dominated by the timber industry in Oregon, down 9 percent. Around the rest of the nation, mining dominates the category, and is up sharply.

Overall in February, there were 122,171 people unemployed in Oregon, down from 137,416 in February 2005.

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On the Net:

Oregon Employment Department: http://www.QualityInfo.org

For help finding jobs and training resources: http://www.WorkSource Oregon.org.