Advanced manufacturing and automotive were among the strongest industries for the region and Ohio for new jobs and capital investment, leaders of JobsOhio, the state’s private economic development arm, said Thursday.

Still, total job growth last year fell below that of 2011, the officials said.

Automotive original equipment manufacturing investment statewide totaled nearly $2 billion in 2012, with 13 different models being produced and more than 1 million vehicles coming off assembly lines, said Kristi Tanner, JobsOhio managing director, in a presentation at Pentagon Centre.

“A significant chunk of that is being driven by Honda,” Tanner said. More than 1,000 workers commute from the area to Honda’s West Central Ohio plants in Marysville, East Liberty and Anna. The automaker also has an $89 million, 549,000-square-foot distribution center in Troy, along with another Miami County distribution site, that together employ more than 400.

Another strong industry for the area was biohealth, where the Dayton area won 52 percent of the state’s capital investment and 40 percent of its total jobs in 2012, thanks in large part to CareSource’s expansion plans, Tanner said.

“You guys lead the state” in biohealth, she said.

Pam Morris, CareSource president and chief executive, reminded listeners in a separate address that her company — the largest Medicaid managed care provider in Ohio — was working to create 150 new jobs, creating new payroll in the city of Dayton of $6.3 million.

Last August, CareSource announced that it was moving 225 employees from its headquarters at 230 N. Main St. to rented space nearby. The move was necessary because CareSource’s Ohio membership has swelled to 930,000 as of last July, and its payroll has grown to 1,300 employees, including nearly 1,000 in Dayton.

For all of Ohio, JobsOhio saw a drop in new jobs committed, 20,979 jobs last year compared to 21,099 in 2011. John Minor, JobsOhio president and chief investment officer, attributed that to a slow fourth quarter in 2012.

In total jobs, including those retained, the state counted 75,612 jobs in 2012, down from 82,785 in 2011, Minor said. But committed capital investment was stronger in 2012 compared to 2011: The state recorded $5.8 billion in capital investment last year, $2.6 billion higher than the $3.2 billion the state saw in 2011, he said.

But with control of the state’s liquor distribution and sales business —a business that saw $255 million in net operating profits as of last September — Minor believes the stage is set for future success.

“This model is actually working,” Minor said. “I think we have shown it’s working.”

He pointed to big wins for the area in 2012, including Abbott Laboratories’ building of a $270 million nutritional drinks production facility in Tipp City. When that site is operating later this year, it’s expected to employ about 240 people and there is room to expand, should the company choose to do so.

“We would not have won Abbott in the old system,” Minor said. “They would have gone to another state.”