Jobless rate back at level seen during GFC The jump to an almost four-year high in the jobless rate highlights the challenges posed by the end of the mining boom, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has warned. Economists expect that Australian Bureau of Statistics data released on Thursday, showing an unemployment rate rise to 5.7 per cent from an upwardly revised 5.6 per cent in May, will add to the case for another interest rate cut as early as August. It was the highest jobless rate since September 2009, when the economy was feeling the impact of the global financial crisis. The data coincided with Mr Rudd's first appearance at the National Press Club since being re-installed as the Labor leader, and where he announced a plan for a new productivity pact between business, unions and government aimed at smoothing the transition out of the resources boom. The rise in the unemployment rate presents a challenge. "It underlines the absolute paramount importance of prosecuting the new national competitiveness agenda," he said. The number of people in employment rose by 10,300 in June, but not by enough to keep unemployment contained. The increase was largely due to a 14,400 increase in part-time jobs, but offset by a fall in full-time work. Shadow treasurer Joe Hockey said 200,000 people had become unemployed since Mr Rudd first came to power in 2007, and that there was nothing in his speech to address this. "There was nothing there that was going to address the cost of living for everyday Australians ... and there was nothing there to create more jobs for Australians," Mr Hockey told reporters in Brisbane. While higher than expected, the June jobless rate is still just below the 5.75 per cent three-month average for the June quarter, forecast by the federal government in the May budget. But senior academic at the University of NSW's Australian School of Business, Nigel Stapledon, warned that leading indicators such as job ads point to unemployment continuing to rise. "It is likely to break over six per cent in the second half of the year," Dr Stapledon said in an analysis. Mining investment might still be high but it is now declining and causing a decline in construction activity, which is just starting to emerge in the employment numbers. Meanwhile, Mr Rudd reiterated his government's commitment to return the budget to balance in 2015/16 as per the May budget, while saying at 11.4 per cent, net debt in Australia is one of the lowest in the world. He said Opposition Leader Tony Abbott's prescription is to implement a "slash and burn" austerity drive across the country. "Well, we have seen how that works in Queensland under (Premier) Campbell Newman where business and consumer confidence has been shaken by the sacking of thousands of people, and the shrinking of critical government services," he said. The Queensland jobless rate rose to 6.4 per cent in June from 5.9 per cent previously.