The steady but relatively low level of unemployment rate in Australia could lead to business slowdowns and render the federal government's infrastructure initiatives quite vulnerable.

This according to the latest report of Clarius Skills Index that showed Australian labour only managed to chalked up gains of 110.6 index points in the September quarter as against to the 98.3 points posted in the same period last year.

More demands coming from the government-sponsored infrastructure projects would further highlight the already deteriorating skills shortage, according to Clarius chief operating officer Kym Quick.

Ms Quick said that the alarming labour shortages could hamper the progress of many Australian businesses and affect the infrastructure initiatives that the government has made on sectors such as mining, health care and significant road improvements across the nation.

She said that the labour shortage requires additional time and money to hunt for the right fit on job requirements as she stressed that apart from the possible effects on the government's infrastructure projects, "we are also seeing competition for experienced, skilled workers placing pressure on the corporate sector."

The Clarius survey said that up to 21,000 skilled workers were being sought by Australian businesses to fill up the void in the labour market that currently employs an estimated 12 million workers.

Ms Quick said that six of the skilled occupation categories suffering from shortages were considered as crucial to infrastructure projects being undertaken across the nation as Australian companies scoured for more supplies of skilled staffs on the segment of building, engineering professionals, construction, metal, automotive and wood tradespersons.

She added that Australian businesses were resorting to higher pay packages in order to attract the right match for their labour requirements though she noted that "this has a wider affect on the market place forcing other companies to match their offers or miss out on key staff."

Latest figures furnished by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) showed that the country's September unemployment rate crawled at a steady pace of 5.1 percent as against from the numbers posted in August while total employment soared by 49,500 to a seasonally adjusted 11.324 million in the same month.