Joe Hockey has received a worrying reminder of the threat to government revenues, with the jobless rate reaching a 12-year high.
As the treasurer prepares to unveil his mid-year budget review on Monday, figures show the unemployment rate ticking up in November to 6.3 per cent.
That takes it past the May budget forecast of 6.25 per cent by mid-2015.
"Clearly we need to reboot the Australian economy," Employment Senator Abetz conceded to reporters in Adelaide.
He hopes the government's infrastructure program, if rolled out as planned, will result in a surge of employment opportunities.
ACTU assistant secretary Tim Lyons says it's time the government stopped talking about jobs and started creating them.
"The longer we go on with an unemployment rate with a six in front of it, the worse the social and economic outlook will be for Australia," he said.
The labour force numbers did include some positive news: 42,700 people found a job in November, although only 1800 of those were in full-time work.
The number of people looking for work also increased, putting pressure on the unemployment rate.
Senator Abetz lamented that rising unemployment not only meant less income tax revenue, but was also usually indicative of softer economic activity, which meant lower company tax receipts.
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten warned that many young people faced a bleak Christmas, as youth unemployment jumped to 14.5 per cent.
"There is no doubt that this is becoming a real crisis," he told reporters.
Opposition employment spokesman Brendan O'Connor noted the latest data did not reflect job losses that would come when Holden and Toyota closed their car plants in 2017.
However, a separate survey suggests it's not all doom and gloom in the manufacturing sector.
It's gaining a new lease of life from rising residential building activity and a sustained depreciation of the Australian dollar.
The latest Westpac-Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry industrial trends survey indicates the sector has expanded for five consecutive quarters.
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