Hockey criticised for US trip by Labor

Labor frontbencher Brendan O'Connor says the treasurer should be working on the budget rather than being in the United States.

Labor says Joe Hockey (C) should be working on the budget rather than enjoying his trip to the US. (AAP)

A Labor frontbencher says Treasurer Joe Hockey should have been in the cabinet room last week rather than enjoying his jaunt in the United States that included ringing the bell at the end of trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

Mr Hockey was in the US for G20, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, gatherings the treasurer says will help him form his May 12 budget.

"The treasurer this week looked like the happiest bell ringer since Quasimodo ... when he should have been in the cabinet room ... working out a credible path for this budget," Labor's employment spokesman Brendan O'Connor told Sky News.