BOSTON (AP) — The Massachusetts unemployment rate remained at 3.5 percent in February for the fifth consecutive month while preliminary estimates show the state added 13,700 jobs during the month.

Most of those private sector jobs occurred in the education and health services, construction, transportation, and utilities sectors as well as in the professional, scientific, and business services areas.

During the past 12 months, Massachusetts added an estimated 39,100 jobs.

The February unemployment rate was six-tenths of a percentage point lower than the national rate of 4.1 percent.

Labor and Workforce Development Secretary Rosalin Acosta said the state's low unemployment rate coupled with over-the-year job and labor force gains, point to the continued strength of the Massachusetts economy.

The February estimates show 3.5 million Massachusetts residents were employed and 127,600 were unemployed.