HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania recorded its biggest one-month jobs gain in nearly two decades in April, while its unemployment rate stabilized after rising for three straight months, the state Department of Labor and Industry said Friday.

An April survey of employers showed that seasonally adjusted nonfarm payrolls grew by 27,000 jobs, the biggest one-month jump since February 1996, the department said. That brought the total payrolls figure to a record of nearly 5.85 million.

The biggest increase was in construction, which added 10,000 jobs, while the education and health services sector and the trade, transportation and utilities sector each added more than 4,000 jobs. The only sectors to shrink during the month were mining and logging and information services. The payrolls figures are preliminary and could be revised.