The number of full-time jobs surged by 80,000 to 8.05 million. Source: Supplied
AUSTRALIA'S jobs market roared back to life in February, generating almost 50,000 new jobs, more than enough to offset announced high-profile losses at Qantas, Alcoa, Holden and Toyota.
An increase in the number of people looking for work helped keep the national unemployment rate unchanged at 6 per cent for the second month in a row - the participation rate rose from a near eight-year low of 64.6 per cent to 64.8 per cent.
While part-time work retreated since January the number of full-time jobs surged by 80,000 to 8.05 million, bringing the total number of Australians in work for more than one hour a week to 11.53 million, a record high thanks also to a continually rising population.
The Australian dollar surged by more than three quarters of a US cent to US90.70c when the ABS released the figures at 11.30am (AEDT), as investors discounted the likelihood of further interest rate cuts from the Reserve Bank.
Meanwhile the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 share index was trading up 33.2 points higher in morning trade at 5417.
Economists had been expecting a jobs rebound in February following a few months of very weak or negative job creation that saw the unemployment rise to 6 per cent, the highest level in more than a decade. Last year was the worst for job creation in more than 20 years.
News of faster jobs growth last month will reassure Australian households increasingly worried about job security and a federal government hoping for signs of an economic revival to make the case for a tough budget in May.
The number of unemployed people rose by almost 10,000 to 742,200 between January and February, with more than 70 per cent of these people looking for full-time work.
Across the states the unemployment rates in Victoria and New South Wales remained constant, but rose in the resources states of Western Australia and Queensland to 5.9 per cent and 6.2 per cent, respectively.
The total number of hours worked fell a little between from January to February, which could mean jobs generation in the short term won't be as strong.
The Reserve Bank of Australia and Treasury are still anticipating the unemployment rate will keep rising this year to a maximum of 6.5 per cent as the construction phase of the resource boom peters out.
