L.A. County’s jobs picture improved in February as the unemployment rate dipped to 12.6 percent and the county gained 45,000 payroll jobs, state figures released Friday show.

The improvement was due to a rebound in professional services and a surge in temporary hiring. If the trend holds over the next couple months, it may mean the end of the worst recession in 70 years.

According to the California Employment Development Department, the county’s unemployment rate dropped to 12.6 percent from a post-Depression record 12.9 percent in January. Nevertheless, the February jobless rate was higher this year than it was a year ago, when it stood at 12.3 percent.

Statewide, the unemployment rate was 12.2 percent in February, down from 12.4 percent in January. Both California and L.A. County were substantially above the nationwide unemployment rate of 8.9 percent in February.

L.A. County’s two largest cities, Los Angeles and Long Beach, showed slight improvement in their jobs picture as their unemployment rates fell to 13.5 percent in February from 14 percent in January.

Meanwhile, total nonfarm payroll employment increased to 3,780,000 jobs in February, a jump of 1.2 percent, or 45,000 jobs, since January. About half of that growth came from the professional and business services sector, evenly split between administrative and support services and temporary employment services.

The growth in temporary employment services is generally considered a leading indicator of economic recovery as employers need to hire more workers to meet rising demand, even if they are still concerned about long-term growth prospects.

The motion picture industry and private education added about 10,000 jobs in February, continuing a rebound.

The only sector recording significant job losses in February was retail. Store owners cut about 6,000 jobs as they continued to wind down from holiday season hiring.

Taking into account this and other seasonal factors, the gain in overall county payroll employment was only about 20,000, or 0.5 percent, according to seasonally adjusted figures from Beacon Economics.