The Sacramento region is adding construction jobs again. To be exact, 1,600 from July 2013 to last month.

But the growth rate is lower than seen in many other parts of California, according toTom Holsman, CEO at the Associated General Contractors of California. And despite the downtown arena, prospects don’t look good for much change here.

“It’s encouraging, but not really thriving,” Holsman said of the figures released Wednesday. “The Sacramento region is really kind of lagging where we expected it to be.”

Sacramento construction jobs grew by 4 percent to 46,800 over the 13-month period. That puts the region at No. 140 nationally. Orange County, Oakland, Los Angeles, Ventura County, San Francisco and San Diego all had higher growth rates — and, in most cases, in raw numbers as well. Even Fresno and Bakersfield posted faster growth rates.

Holsman said two sectors in particular are not adding jobs at the degree his group might have hoped: Commercial construction and public-sector construction.

“We’re optimistic that the numbers will really pop when the arena gets underway,” Holsman said, adding there’s also likely to be some spillover commercial jobs for buildings around the arena.