John Howard backtracks on comments dismissing Albanese's press conference stumble over unemployment rate

Former Prime Minister John Howard has backtracked on his comments about Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese's press conference stumble.

Mr Albanese had his first stumble of the official 2022 election campaign when he was unable to name either the unemployment rate or the RBA cash rate during a press conference.

At a Leadership Matters breakfast in Perth, former Liberal leader Mr Howard said "he [Anthony Albanese] should have known that figure".

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"Let's not muck about. Anyone who wants to be Prime Minister should be on top of those figures."

The comments came after Mr Howard had initially dismissed the significance of the Labor leader's blunder.

Mr Howard, back on the campaign trail almost 15 years after he left office, had brushed off Mr Albanese's gaffe yesterday, asking if it was a "serious question".

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"Anthony Albanese didn't know the unemployment (rate)," Mr Howard said.

"Alright, so what?"

Mr Howard guessed the rate had a "three" in front of it before Indigenous Affairs Minister Ken Wyatt, who the former PM was campaigning for, said the rate was falling, according to Nine newspapers.

In 2007 the former Prime Minister had been caught in a similar situation in an A Current Affair interview, saying the rate was 6.25 per cent when it was actually 6.5 per cent.

After the stumble, Mr Albanese apologised and said "I'm not sure what it is" before Labor finance spokeswoman Katy Gallagher correctly answered the question.

The RBA cash rate is at 0.1 per cent while unemployment sits at four per cent.

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Mr Albanese later "fessed up", saying he was "only human" and that when he made a mistake he owned up to it.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison had no such problems when asked the same questions at his own press conference, which took place after Mr Albanese's.

"Well 0.1 per cent is the cash rate, has been for some time," Mr Morrison said.

"The unemployment rate, I'm happy to say is 4 per cent, falling to a 50-year low."

Hip-pocket questions have led to stumbles for both candidates, with Mr Morrison in February caught on the hop after being unable to name the price of a loaf of bread or a litre of petrol.

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