The Massachusetts unemployment rate for March dropped to 8 percent, down from February’s rate of 8.2 percent, according to the state’s Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development.

Massachusetts added 3,200 jobs in March, the sixth straight month of job gains. The largest gain in employment came in the leisure and hospitality sector of the local economy, and the construction sector had the largest growth rate, state officials said.

Sectors losing jobs included government and financial services. The March job gain follows a revised 14,400 jobs gain in February, previously reported as a 15,400 job gain, state officials said.

The national unemployment rate is 8.8 percent. In March 2010, the state’s unemployment rate was 8.7 percent.

The state said more than 3.2 million Massachusetts residents had jobs last month, while about 282,000 were out of work.

This improvement in the unemployment rate validates PSG’s experience; in 2011 we have seen steady increases in hiring from our clients.