This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

California’s economic recovery gained pace in February as the state recouped jobs lost to a dire winter COVID-19 surge, bringing the unemployment rate to its lowest level since the onset of the pandemic last year, officials said.

The state’s jobless rate fell to 8.5% from 9.0% in January as employers added 141,000 jobs, according to state data published Friday.

“Today’s news, along with the governor’s announcement this week that California is continuing to expand COVID-19 vaccine eligibility, is a milestone in our ongoing recovery,” Dee Dee Myers, director of the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development, and state Labor Secretary Julie A. Su said in a statement.

The February reversal recovered nearly 91% of the jobs lost in December and January, when a coronavirus surge and business closures took a grim toll on employment.

Read the full story on LATimes.com.