SALEM, Ore. (AP) - After six months of flat job growth, Oregon's work force grew by 7,000 jobs in February, the largest monthly gain since December 2005.

The Oregon Employment Department said today that in its monthly jobs report, Oregon's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 5.3 percent last month. That's virtually unchanged from the January rate of 5.2 percent.

The national jobless rate was 4.5 percent. There were about 118,000 Oregonians on the jobless rolls last month.

David Cooke, an economist with the employment agency, called the jump in payroll employment "a surprisingly robust jobs gain."

However, the agency said manufacturing continued to show weakness this past month.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)