Australia's unemployment rate rose slightly to 5.3 percent in February from January's revised 5.2 percent, with just 400 new jobs created, official data showed on Thursday.

The figure, which was in line with forecasts, came after 11,400 full-time jobs were created, offset by the loss of 11,000 part-time positions, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said.

The bureau counts both full- and part-time jobs when calculating employment levels.

"I think what these figures are telling us is that this is a steady result," said Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard. "We're seeing employers move to taking on more full-time employees and reducing part-time work."

Unemployment dropped for three consecutive months to January, prompting Reserve Bank of Australia chief Glenn Stevens to declare that the figure had peaked well below official predictions of 6.75 percent this year.

Australia's economy has fared well in the world downturn, growing 2.7 percent last year thanks in part to booming Chinese demand for Australian natural resources.

"We need to remind ourselves as we look overseas that nations a lot like ours are struggling with unemployment rates of more than nine percent," Gillard said, citing the United States (9.7 percent) and 16-nation eurozone (9.9 percent).