Australian jobs steady at 5.0% despite floods

SYDNEY: Australian unemployment held steady at 5.0 percent last month despite widespread flooding which hit mining, farming and tourism, official figures showed Thursday.

Some 24,000 more people found jobs, raising the total number of workers to 11,441,500, seasonally adjusted. But the Australian Bureau of Statistics said flooding had hindered its survey in the hard-hit state of Queensland.

"Due to flooding in Queensland, operational difficulties were experienced in conducting the Labour Force Survey in January 2011," the bureau said.

"There was a larger than usual number of households in the Queensland sample which could not be interviewed," it said, warning of "increased volatility" in figures from the sprawling northeastern state.

Record floods blamed on La Nina weather system affected some three-quarters of Queensland, paralysing coal production and wiping out vast areas of crops.

Treasurer Wayne Swan has warned that the floods and Severe Tropical Cyclone Yasi, which pummelled Queensland last week, could cause Australia's export-led economy to contract in the first quarter.