ABS employment data revised: Australians have been fed a 'statistical furphy'

Treasurer Joe Hockey has signalled that market participants may be charged a fee to access data provided by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) as he blamed Labor's budget cuts for dodgy job figures produced by the agency.

The credibility of monthly employment data – arguably the most crucial gauge of the economy's health – has been thrown into doubt by the official statistician, who said it was conducting a review of its July, August and Thursday's September figures.

Speaking in Washington, Mr Hockey acknowledged the August reporting of a jump of 121,000 new jobs seemed "extraordinary" – an indication the Treasurer was himself sceptical of the official figures. By comparison, the much-larger US economy created 142,000 jobs the same month.