Free trade jobs figure wrong, Cash admits

Michaelia Cash has had to fess up to an error in her new role as federal employment minister after Labor accused her of "wildly exaggerating" job numbers from free trade agreements.

Senator Cash admitted she was wrongly advised that agreements with Korea, Japan and China would create 178,000 jobs by 2035 - a line that has been used previously by the government.

Labor claims the figure hovers around 5500 and on Tuesday, Senator Cash told the Senate the methodology to derive the larger figure was wrong but maintained the agreements would still create "many thousands" of jobs.