Washington added an estimated 1,200 jobs in September, and the unemployment rate dropped a point to 8.5 percent, according to the latest report from the Employment Security Department.

The long-term trend of job growth is clear. In the first nine months of 2012, the state added an estimated 52,300 jobs, compared to 31,600 jobs in the same period last year.

Where are the new jobs? The agency reported that the hospitality sector grew, as did public-sector education jobs (state-agencies lost another 1,000 jobs).

The latest report also revises the down August report, which had been a loss of 1,100 jobs, to a gain of 2,500.

“The revision to the August job numbers shows why it’s risky to place too much importance on preliminary estimates, or on one month of numbers,” said Joe Elling, chief labor economist for Employment Security. “The trend over the past 31 months shows an increasing rate of job growth.”