As Italy starts to see signs of economic recovery, the country's job market remained steady during February.

This is according to Bloomberg, which reports the unemployment total was unchanged over the course of the month.

During February, the jobless total stood at 8.5 per cent on a seasonally adjusted basis, the same level as a revised figure for January and below a median of 8.7 per cent forecast by eight economists the news agency polled.

Italian statistics office Istat also revealed a high level of youth unemployment in the country in the wake of the global downturn.

However, employment rates appear to be stabilizing in the country, which saw job losses rise in the fourth quarter of 2009 and an increase in unemployment in January for the eighth consecutive month.

In November, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development forecast an increase in the national unemployment rate in Italy during 2010, with the total peaking in 2011 at 8.7 per cent.