Growth won't get jobless rate down: Bowen

Shadow treasurer Chris Bowen has warned that two per cent annual economic growth is not enough to get the jobless rate down.

Mr Bowen was commentating after the latest national accounts showed the economy grew by just 0.2 per cent in the June quarter, compared to a 0.9 per cent rise in the March quarter.

"Last quarter the treasurer ... said anyone who warned of weakening growth was a clown, well Joe Hockey is a ringmaster in economic decline," he told reporters in Sydney on Wednesday.