Newsflash: The unemployment rate jumped to 9.8 percent in November.

Backlash: Democrats immediately

set to making matters worse.

With the Bush tax cuts due to expire on Dec. 31, House and Senate Dems wasted precious hours this week on symbolic votes as they tried to ignite class warfare against Republicans.

Sen. Claire McCaskill suggested taxpayers “take up pitchforks” against the GOP for pushing to extend cuts for even the highest earners.

Great idea — if your goal is to make the jobless rate even worse.

Hiking taxes on top earners would net revenue but devastate small businesses, which generate most American jobs.

According to a Heritage Foundation study, the Dems’ higher-tax model would kill an average of 693,000 jobs every year for the next decade.

Not exactly a road to recovery.

But tax cuts are just that: They give business owners confidence to hire new employees and keep the ones they’ve got. And they let wary investors know they’ll keep the money they make. Otherwise, why bother taking the risk?

President Obama, thankfully, seems to be looking to deal: The tax cuts can stay alive, the White House suggested, if jobless benefits are extended, too.

Obama’s package deal also includes $400 tax rebates for low earners — but mere bribes aren’t going to save the day.

Likewise, extending unemployment benefits certainly has its merits, but it’s a patch job that won’t change the fundamental problem one bit.

(See JOBS: lack thereof.)

Ultimately, getting people back on their feet requires creating new work, not just extending the dole into next century.

Which means it’s time to cut social services out of the equation and heed the lessons of the Dems’ shellacking at the polls last month.

The time bomb is ticking — Dec. 31 is nearly here. Dems need to wise up fast.