Nevada’s unemployment rate dropped to 8.5% in February and the construction industry was one of the leaders in job growth, according to the February employment report released earlier today by the Nevada Department of Education, Training and Rehabilitation.

Overall the state of Nevada added 3,000 jobs in February and 26,000 fewer Nevadans are jobless than a year ago, DETR reported. The construction industry added 1,200 jobs in February and has averaged an additional 500 jobs per month during the last 12 months.

With February’s 1,200 job gain seasonally-adjusted employment in the construction industry rose 5,800 from February 2013 to February 2014. Employment by Specialty Trade Contractors in the state increased by 800 in February and 1,600 over the last year, on a non-seasonally-adjusted basis. Seasonally-adjusted employment figures for Specialty Trade Contractors and for individual counties and municipalities are not available.

While the news from the construction industry was mostly positive there may be areas for concern in Clark County. Overall 700 construction jobs were added in February and 1,200 during the last year. But employment by Specialty Trade Contractors was flat in February and has actually declined by 800 since February 2013, according to the DETR report.

Construction employment in Washoe and Storey Counties has exploded during the last year, increasing by 31.3%. 2,600 jobs have been created in the industry in these two counties since February 2013, with 600 of them added this February.

Nevada’s job growth rate of 3.4% in 2013 led the nation and the February gains represent a 3.6% annualized rate of growth. The rate for February is second-highest in the nation, to North Dakota, DETR announced via its Twitter account after the release of the monthly employment report.

The large metropolitan areas led the way in employment gains. Employment increased 4.4% since February 2013 in the Reno/Sparks area (Washoe and Storey Counties) and 3.4% in the Las Vegas area (Clark County).

A video version of this month’s report is available on the DETR website as is a Power Point presentation of the report.