SACRAMENTO (AP) — California’s unemployment rate was unchanged for a third month, holding at 7.4 percent in August, officials said Friday.

The state added 44,200 nonfarm jobs during the month, bringing the total to 15.5 million, the California Employment Development Department reported.

Last month’s gains mean the state has added slightly more than 1.4 million jobs since February 2010, when the jobless number hit a peak of 12.4 percent.

The national unemployment rate dropped to 6.1 percent.

In California, the construction sector posted the largest increase over the month, adding 13,600 jobs. Manufacturing, financial activities, business services, education, health, leisure and government also added jobs in August.