Unemployment rate of 6.4% means it's time to spend money to create jobs | Stephen Koukoulas

Highest jobless rate in 12 years is because there is simply not enough economic activity in the economy to stimulate job creation

The new year has kicked off on a sour note for the economy with the unemployment rate jumping to 6.4%, the highest in 12 years.

For the past decade, Australia got used to having the unemployment rate around 5%, plus or minus a percentage point, depending on the nature of the positive and negative shocks that hit the economy and the policy response to those shocks.