SACRAMENTO—The success rate of would-be lawyers taking the California bar exam continues to slide, with just 34.5 percent of those who sat for the February test earning passing marks, according to figures released late Friday.

The pass rate is the lowest for a spring sitting in eight years and the third worst over the last 30 years.

“Regrettably the pass rate shows a continuing decline, a trend happening nationally,” State Bar executive director Elizabeth Rindskopf Parker said in a prepared statement. “The State Bar is committed to a better understanding of the problem to determine how to address it.”