Pennsylvania’s jobless rate ticked down in February.

It’s still half a point higher than it was a year ago and four-tenths above the national average, but the unemployment rate dipped one-tenth of a point last month to 8.1 percent.

Department of Labor and Industry secretary Julia Hearthway says the state continues to see job growth and a particularly positive sign is in the gain in manufacturing, which added 44 hundred jobs in February.

The state’s over the year growth was most pronounced in the private sector. The largest gains were in professional and business services and education and health services.

Nationally, the jobless rate stood at 7.7% in February.