The number of full-time jobs has surged to the biggest monthly rise in more than 22 years, but Victoria's hard-hit manufacturing has meant that the state missed out on the February jobs bonanza.
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A total of 47,300 jobs were added to the economy in February, the strongest monthly rise in almost two years. A total of 80,500 full-time roles were added, the highest rise since August 1991 and the second-largest monthly growth on record. About 33,300 part-time positions were removed.
Even with the jobs fillip, the unemployment rate remained stable at a decade-high of 6 per cent as more people looking for work entered the market.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott said the jobless rate was ''much higher'' than he would like. ''Plainly, if we want to see more people employed, we have got to get taxes down,'' he said.
Federal Treasurer Joe Hockey said the February report was a positive sign, but ''there is still much work to be done''.
The results saw the Australian dollar gain nearly a cent to trade at US90.81¢. Economists said the February figures suggested the jobs market was showing signs of improvement. At the same time, the unchanged jobless rate was a reminder of the soft conditions in employment.
''Overall, there is a simple key message and that is the labour market is stabilising,'' UBS chief economist Scott Haslem said. ''Monthly jobs growth has recovered from zero through mid-2013 to about 14,000 over recent months.''
The participation rate, the percentage of people either in work or looking for work, rose to 64.8 per cent from 64.6 per cent after falling steadily over the past year.
Victoria's jobless rate remained stable at a seasonally adjusted 6.4 per cent. But it shed 5300 jobs for the month, the largest decline among the states and territories.
New South Wales had the lowest unemployment rate in February, at an unchanged 5.8 per cent, after Western Australia recorded a sharp jump in the jobless rate from 5.2 per cent to 5.9 per cent.
The mining powerhouse's 1.7 percentage point rise since November equates to a 42 per cent increase in the number of jobless in that state over the same period.
The latest figures came as Woolworths promised to create 7000 jobs across Australia at its stores. This came just weeks after a string of high-profile companies announced thousands of job cuts and factory closures. Last week, Coles said it would build new supermarkets and create more than 16,000 jobs.
Despite the strong monthly growth, economists said it was too early to tell if the labour market had reached a turning point. The Reserve Bank and the Treasury expect the unemployment rate to edge higher.
With Eli Greenblat
