The Australian unemployment rate for December 2021 fell to 4.2 percent, the lowest level since August 2008, just prior to the start of the Global Financial Crisis. Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) revealed that around 65,000 jobs were created during the month, of which approximately two-thirds were filled by men and one-third by women. ABS Head of labour statistics, Bjorn Jarvis, said the economic recovery in New South Wales and Victoria, the two most populous Australian states, had a large influence on the national figures. “Employment in these two states [increased] by 32,000 and 25,000 people between November and December,” Jarvis said. “Their employment was around where it had been in May having fallen 250,000 and 145,000 during the lockdowns.” The underemployment rate also fell to 6.6 percent. However, the participation rate remained the same at 66.1 percent, which is 0.2 percent higher than before the start …