Los Angeles County’s job market finally looks to be firing on all cylinders, but concern remains that it might yet sputter.

The county’s unemployment rate fell to 5.6 percent in February, its lowest point in more than eight years, and down two full percentage points from the same month last year. Meanwhile, employers in the county added 45,000 jobs during the month, according to figures released March 18 from the state Employment Development Department.

What’s more, employers created a whopping 107,000 jobs for the 12 months ended Feb. 29, for a robust growth rate of 2.5 percent. That’s well above the 1.7 percent to 2 percent range seen in recent months.

The growth rate in employment is more in line with the statewide average of 2.8 percent; in recent years the lower local growth rate has served as a drag on California’s economy. And those figures have local economists most encouraged.

“L.A. County’s labor market is doing fine here in 2016,” said Robert Kleinhenz, executive director for economic research at Westchester-based Beacon Economics. “With those 107,000 new jobs we’ve created over the past year, we’re finally contributing more than our usual share of job growth.”

But how long will this unusually strong job growth rate continue?

With the global economic slowdown of the past six months showing no signs of letting up and a national economy that is slowing slightly, it’s only a matter of time before those trends catch up with the county, said Christine Cooper, senior vice president and top economist with the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp.

“This growth rate we’ve seen is a bit more robust than we had expected, especially for this far into the business cycle – nearly seven years into expansion mode,” Cooper said. “We had been forecasting a slowdown in year-over-year job growth for some time now and we expect that will still happen this year into next year.”

In the meantime, both Cooper and Kleinhenz said, Angelenos should enjoy the good news on the jobs front while they can.

The unemployment rate fell from 5.8 percent in January, hitting its lowest point since November 2007. That figure had fallen in previous months because people were leaving the labor force, but February was different. The county’s labor force, which is tracked in a household survey by government agencies, expanded by 15,000, indicating some residents returned to the job market.

Even better news was a sharp jump in jobs on employer payrolls in February. The county added 45,800 jobs in February according to payroll data submitted by employers, topping 4.33 million. While February typically is a strong month, this year’s gains were more than usual; seasonally adjusted figures from the EDD show an increase of 21,000 jobs over the norm for the month.

The payroll job gains were broad based, with almost every sector reporting increases.

Good jobs year

Perhaps the most encouraging news was the huge increase of 107,000 payroll jobs over the past 12 months. Among the gainers were entertainment (up 9,400), and construction (up 6,100).

As expected, the only sector posting a net job decline over the past 12 months was manufacturing, which shed 8,000 jobs as part of a continuing long-term decline.

The entertainment industry gains during February and over the past 12 months were especially welcome news after the sector posted declines in several past months. Some of the gains were seasonal as spring TV production and pilot season kicked into higher gear.

But two new trends are pushing this year’s job levels higher than last year. The state’s expanded film and tax credits are drawing some production back into the region and keeping studios from exporting other jobs to cheaper locales. And the increasing amount of original content being generated for new viewing platforms – chiefly by Netflix Inc., Hulu and Amazon.com Inc. – also get some of the credit.

“We are experiencing an increase in TV production both due to the tax credit program and also due to the increase in original content for cable and Internet distribution,” said Amy Lemisch, executive director of the California Film Commission. “More production equals more jobs for our skilled crews.”

Also encouraging, Kleinhenz said, were gains in the relatively high-paying professional/business/tech services and construction sectors.

“Los Angeles took an especially hard hit in construction jobs during the Great Recession,” he said. “It’s nice to see that sector coming back so strongly.”