Orange County’s unemployment rate last month tumbled to its lowest level in more than six years, reflecting the nation’s steady recovery from the Great Recession.

The county’s 4.4 percent rate in December was down sharply from November’s 5 percent and below last December’s estimate of 5.3 percent.

Employers in the county added jobs at a 2.3 percent rate over the year, outpacing California’s 2.1 percent payroll growth, according to state employment officials.

Statewide, unemployment dipped to a seasonally adjusted 7 percent in December, down from 7.2 percent a month earlier.

The national rate stood at 5.6 percent.

“The bottom line is that California’s economy and labor market registered solid job gains in 2014,” said economist Robert Kleinhenz of the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation.

“The state’s unemployment rate is the lowest in five and a half years. That’s a reflection of what’s happening in the U.S. as a whole.”

However, Kleinhenz noted that wage growth nationwide is “barely outpacing inflation,” which reflects an oversupply of workers for the number of available jobs.

“The recovery is still modest by historical standards with very slow wage growth for many, especially compared to increases in housing prices and rents,” said Steve Levy of the Palo Alto-based Center for Continuing Study of the California Economy.

In Orange County, financial activities – boosted by a surge in mortgage lending – added 2,600 jobs in December, more than any other sector. Construction lost the most positions, 2,300, following a normal seasonal slowdown.

On a yearly basis, however, construction was one the fastest growing sectors of the county’s economy, with a 5 percent rise in jobs. Health care and social assistance employment rose by 5.4 percent year-over-year, while leisure and hospitality jobs grew by 3 percent.

Manufacturing jobs dropped by 0.9 percent in Orange County over the year, and were stagnant in California, with a meager 0.2 percent increase. Professional and business jobs, reflecting the county’s service-based economy, grew by 2.9 percent.

Retail jobs remained flat in the county, with 0.3 percent growth in a year. However, transportation and warehousing positions were up by 6.8 percent, as activity at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach continued to expand.

The sharp decline in Orange County’s unemployment rate, which is not seasonally adjusted, is not entirely positive, said Wallace Walrod, an economist at the Orange County Business Council.

“The numbers were a bit of good news/bad news,” he said. While new jobs were created, the number of people in the labor force – those who hold jobs or are actively seeking work – fell by nearly a full percentage point in a month, he noted.

”That’s what drove most of the month’s drop in unemployment rate,” Walrod said, adding that he expects Orange County’s unemployment rate to rise somewhat in 2015, as more people resume looking for work.

Many job seekers stop searching during the holidays, and some sectors, including construction, normally see a slowdown. However, nationwide, many discouraged workers have simply dropped out of the labor force.

Kleinhenz said that workers over 55 are re-entering the workforce in higher numbers, while participation continues to drop among younger adults between the ages of 25 and 44.

“It is perplexing,” he said. “It probably has a lot to do with the long shadow of the Great Recession, which has adversely affected young people’s employment prospects over the last few years.”

Month-to-month labor statistics often vary widely and are frequently revised, but December’s payroll jobs numbers from the California Employment Development Department were particularly out of line with current trends. Economists expect them to be substantially revised in March when the department publishes its annual benchmarking.

The December report showed 800 jobs created in Orange County, and only 700 in California. In contrast, the November report showed 12,200 jobs created in Orange County and 82,800 statewide.

The December numbers were “an underestimate,” Kleinheinz said, as can be seen in a separate survey of metropolitan areas which shows stronger growth. The March revisions will likely show December’s California job growth “close to the 27,000 jobs per month average gain that prevailed through all of 2014.”

More than 200 job seekers thronged a career fair in Santa Ana last week, but many of the 25 companies giving interviews were offering commission-only positions rather than steady salaried employment.

“Those 100 percent commission jobs have high turnover,” said Freddie Hayes, 52, who has cycled through sales jobs with five different companies since 2007. “They want quick business. If you twist your ankle, then you don’t eat for a week.”

But Eric Graff, a recruiter for SunRun, a San Francisco-based solar panel installer, was bullish on the opportunities for job seekers, saying that he plans to hire up to ten commission-only sales personnel in the region, who can earn up to $100,000 a year.

“Orange County has held up well compared to the rest of California,” Graff said. “It is a great place for solar and our guys are crushing it in O.C.”

Adolph Rangel, 39, interviewed with one employer after another at the job fair. “It is very tough,” he said. “For every position, there are as many as 100 applicants.”

Rangel, who lives in Anaheim Hills, dropped out of college to work as a mortgage salesman, and then as a recruiter at for-profit colleges. He made more than $100,000 a year between 1999 and 2012, he said.

Now, he said, his lack of a bachelor’s degree is hurting him and he expects it will be hard to match his former income. “I have 15 years of experience, but you go online and send out your resume and no one calls. Here at the job fair, at least you can shake hands with someone.”

Lianna Lu, a recruiter for Iotec, a Santa Fe Springs company that leases copiers, was looking for two sales people and two telemarketers. The problem, she said, is that “people with experience don’t want to start at the entry level, but that’s what we are hiring.”