California outpaced its recent job growth as employers added 44,200 nonfarm positions in August — far more than any other state.

But for the third straight month, the state unemployment rate remained flat at 7.4%, according to Employment Development Department data released Friday. That’s higher than the national rate, which edged lower last month to 6.1% from 6.2% in July.

This time last year, 8.9% of workers in the state were unemployed. Now, more Californians are streaming back into the labor force, which expanded by 16,400 people last month to nearly 18.6 million available workers. But employers are hiring enough to absorb the expanding pool of workers, which contributed to the stagnant unemployment rate, economists said. Some 17.2 million Californians had jobs in August, up by 16,000 from July. But the number of unemployed workers was also up, rising by 1,000 to nearly 1.4 million total.

“If we want this to go down, the job creation has to pick up more than it is now,” said Esmael Adibi, director of the A. Gary Anderson Center for Economic Research at Chapman University.

In the last month, nearly a third of all new jobs created nationally originated in California. By comparison, Florida added 22,700 positions and Texas boosted payrolls by 20,100 jobs.

But by percentage increase, the largest leaps in employment in August were made by New Mexico, with a 0.6% upswing, and Nebraska, which enjoyed a 0.5% lift.

Even accounting for California’s massive population, the nation’s largest, many economists expressed surprise at the job surge. Several remained wary of government data, pointing to frequent revisions and fluctuations.

“To be candid, I’m not sure I believe it,” said Christopher Thornberg, co-founder of Beacon Economics.

Other states hit hard by the recession, including Illinois and Nevada, have also seen more improvement in unemployment rates than California over the last year.

In the midst of a two-year rebound, the residential and commercial construction sector added 35,600 jobs compared with August 2013, a 5.6% surge. An additional 93,000 professional and business services jobs contributed to a 4% upswing in that sector.

“It’s a great time for these businesses,” Thornberg said. “The economy’s heating up, there’s more demand for their services both domestically and internationally, and more high-skilled workers are moving to California because it’s paradise.”

In the last year, manufacturing and financial activities were the only industries that lost jobs.

Some 411,000 Californians received unemployment insurance benefits in August, down more than 15,000 from July. The government received fewer claims as well — 47,640 from 56,565.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-california-jobs-20140920-story.html