Jobless rate dips in 4 US states in Feb-Labor Dept

WASHINGTON, March 26 (Reuters) - After months in which unemployment rates rose in all states from a year before, a handful of rates fell in February, the Labor Department said on Friday in a possible sign the recession that has plagued many states may have reached bottom.

Four states registered declines from February a year ago, the department said.

Unemployment rates dropped month over the month in seven states and the District of Columbia.

At the same time, the number of jobs increased in 23 states in February, with the largest gain in Florida at 26,300 jobs.

And while Michigan continues to record the highest unemployment rate in the country, that rate has continued to fall, declining to 14.1 percent in February from 14.3 percent in January.

Still, recovery may drag in many states.

The chairwoman of North Carolina's Employment Security Commission, Lynn Holmes, said the state's unemployment rate increase to a record 11.2 percent in February from 11.1 percent in January showed "how difficult economic recovery can be."

"It's going to take many consecutive months of job gains to get employment levels back up," she said in a statement, noting that 11,000 people found work in the state in February and "more people are re-entering the labor force because they believe more work is available."

Even though Florida gained jobs, the state's unemployment rate also hit an historic high in February at 12.2 percent, said the Agency for Workforce Innovation.

"February's unemployment rate underscores the critical importance of our ongoing efforts to support Florida's families and businesses during these challenging times," said the agency's director, Cynthia Lorenzo, in a statement.

Nevada and Georgia also set record high jobless rates.

Virginia lost the most jobs at 32,600 in February, followed by Michigan, Pennsylvania and Maryland. (Reporting by Lisa Lambert, additional reporting by Michael Connor in Miami; Editing by Kenneth Barry)