Spain"s unemployment rate fell by 76,782 people, or 2.41 percent, in December, marking the 10th consecutive month of lower unemployment figures and the lowest for the period since 2007, according to Spain"s Ministry of Labor. Spain added 70,814 jobs during the month, while about 102,548 people were still enrolled in the state-supported leave scheme, 35,000 fewer than the previous month. This brings the number of registered workers to 19.84 million, a record for the Spanish labor market, according to the Ministry of Social Security. UK Hiring Higher consumer demand for instant products and services could induce UK companies to increase their hiring, according to a survey by Lloyds Bank Plc. Almost half of the surveyed firms plan to hire more workers in the medium term, Bloomberg reported. Australia"s Housing prices Following a 22.1 percent rise in 2021, the housing boom in Australia seems to be over as prices are set to rise by only 5 percent this year. The price hike in 2021 was the highest since 1988, according to Bloomberg. Caused by a drop in the high-end properties boom, housing prices went up by just 1 percent in December, CoreLogic Inc. said. Melbourne, the country’s second most populous city, experienced the first drop in prices since October 2020, falling slightly by 0.1 percent last month. Meanwhile, Sydney’s home prices rose by 0.3 percent, the lowest rate since the same period. German retail sales A sharp rise in German retail sales in November pushed annual retail sales to a record high, despite the restrictions of the coronavirus pandemic that hampered a consumer-led recovery in Europe"s largest economy. Retail sales rose 0.6 percent on a monthly basis in real terms, according to the Federal Statistics Office. China’s Factories activity Factory activity in China grew at its fastest pace in six months in December, driven by higher production and easing price pressures. Meanwhile, the Caixin/Markit Manufacturing Purchasing Managers" Index rose to 50.9 percent in December, hitting its highest level since June. Factory production increased at the fastest pace in a year, helped by easing price pressures. A gauge of input prices has fallen to its lowest level since May 2020, according to the Reuters survey.