California adds 90,100 jobs; unemployment rate drops to 7.2%

California employers added more than 90,000 jobs in November, one of state’s largest monthly employment gains in more than a decade, according to federal data.

The state unemployment rate dropped to 7.2%, down from 7.3% last month. That’s still significantly higher than the U.S. jobless rate of 5.8%, but is down from 8.4% a year ago.

The drop in the unemployment rate happened as nearly 65,000 more workers entered the state’s labor force, signaling that employment is keeping up with a growing number of job seekers.

Employers across all major California sectors added jobs last month, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, with the biggest gains coming in professional and business services, and trade and transportation.

Since last November, California has added 344,100 jobs -- more than any other state except Texas, which added more than 441,000.

Though economists generally avoid reading too much into monthly fluctuations in the labor market, the one-month gain of 90,100 jobs in California is by far the largest this year. In the last decade, there has been only one month that posted a higher increase: October 2012.

Since last November, the fastest job growth has been in the construction and professional services industries. The professional services sector, along with health and education, added the most jobs of any major industry in the state over the past year.

Twitter: @c_kirkham