Jacksonville's unemployment rate fell in February, showing that the local economy continues to be strong.

The jobless rate in the Jacksonville metropolitan area - consisting of Duval, Baker, Clay, Nassau and St. Johns counties - fell from 3.5 percent in January to 3.2 percent in February, the Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation reported Friday.

The state labor agency does not adjust the data for seasonal factors. But the University of North Florida's Local Economic Indicators Project reported that when the data are seasonally adjusted, they still show that unemployment dropped from about 3.2 percent to 3.1 percent in February.

"It suggests that the local economy is still quite solid," said UNF economist Paul Mason, who coordinates LEIP.

The state labor agency also said Jacksonville businesses added 15,500 jobs to their payrolls from February 2006 to February 2007, a 2.5 percent job growth rate.

The fastest-growing major industry sectors are professional and business services, which grew jobs by 4.9 percent, and education and health services, which rose by 4.8 percent in the 12-month period.

The major downside to the local economy is the manufacturing sector, which declined by 900 jobs, or 2.7 percent, over the 12 months.

The data show that Jacksonville's labor market is stronger than the rest of the state and the rest of the nation. The labor agency said Florida's statewide unemployment rate was unchanged at a seasonally-adjusted 3.3 percent in February, with job growth at 1.7 percent. The U.S. Labor Department reported earlier this month that the national jobless rate fell from 4.6 percent in January to 4.5 percent in February, with job growth at 1.5 percent.

The Georgia Department of Labor said Thursday that the unemployment rate for Southeast Georgia fell from 5.5 percent in January to 5.1 percent in February. Statewide, Georgia's jobless rate fell from 4.7 percent to 4.4 percent. The Georgia data are not seasonally-adjusted.

mark.basch@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4308