Seasonal hiring at public and private schools helped propel the county to a net gain of 30,000 jobs in October, according to state figures released Friday.

However, the job gains were not enough to move the county’s unemployment rate, which remained stuck at 12.6 percent – its highest level in decades – thanks to continuing job losses in manufacturing and construction. A year ago, the unemployment rate stood at 12.3 percent.

Statewide, the unemployment rate remained unchanged in October at 12.4 percent, significantly above the 9.6 percent national rate, according to figures from the Employment Development Department.

Job gains in the education sector accounted for much of the local hiring in L.A. County as the school year kicked into full gear. Once those hires were factored in, the county only gained about 10,000 non-farm payroll jobs, according to seasonally adjusted figures calculated by Los Angeles-based Beacon Economics.

Other sectors recording job gains in October included wholesale, retail and professional and business services.

The county is also improving in the closely watched year-over-year jobs picture. From October 2009 to this October, the county lost 31,000 non-farm jobs, a drop of about 0.8 percent. That’s a significant improvement from year-over-year job loss rates of more than 100,000 earlier this year.

The film and television industry gained 12,000 jobs over the past year, followed by the leisure and hospitality sector at 7,000 jobs. Those gains were offset by a steep drop of 23,000 jobs on local government payrolls.