Buoyed by seasonal hiring in the retail sector, L.A. County’s jobless rate in November fell to its lowest level in at least 30 years while wage and salary employment in the county edged closer to an all-time high, state figures released Friday show.

L.A.’s unemployment rate dipped to 4.2 percent from 4.3 percent in October, down more than a point from 5.3 percent in November 2005. The reading is the lowest since the state overhauled the way it tracks employment data in 1976.

Jobless levels in the county are now well below the statewide average of 4.6 percent and slightly below the national average of 4.3 percent, an unusual development for such a highly urbanized county.

Meanwhile, L.A. gained 29,000 non-farm jobs in November from October and is up 35,000 from November 2005. The total of 4,107,700 non-farm jobs is the highest since peaking at 4,178,000 jobs in March 1990.

The county also outpaced the state, which turned in an anemic 16,000 additional non-farm jobs in November as losses in the construction sector brought down the statewide average.

Retail trade added 10,700 jobs in November from October, while government added 5,000 jobs to its payrolls in November. Year-over-year, the biggest gains were in leisure/hospitality (9,000 jobs) and healthcare/social assistance (8,200 jobs), followed by professional and business services, with 7,300 additional jobs.

Despite the slowdown in the housing sector, construction employment only dipped by 1,600 jobs, or 1 percent, in the last year. And wage and salary employment on the real estate services side has stayed virtually unchanged over the past year, though the state figures do not account for brokers who work as independent contractors.