German unemployment fell for a seventh successive month in February to its lowest level in over five years, driven by robust growth in Europe's largest economy and mild winter weather.
The Federal Labour Office said the unemployment total fell 79,000 in seasonally-adjusted terms.
Ronald Pofalla, general secretary the ruling Christian Democrats party
The number of German jobless has fallen steadily for nearly two years, and the figures will help take the edge off news of a restructuring at European planemaker Airbus, due later today, that is expected to hit thousands of German staff.
"Economic spring is coming early to Germany," said David Brown, an economist at Bear Stearns International in London. "German labour markets are booming and this is a very positive omen for sustainable recovery going forwards."
The drop took the adjusted jobless total to 3.897 million and the rate to 9.3 per cent, both the lowest since August 2001.
The latest figures were welcomed by allies of Chancellor Angela Merkel, who made fighting unemployment her top priority when she took power in November 2005.
"The jobless figures show that the government is on the right path," said Ronald Pofalla, general secretary of Merkel's conservative Christian Democrats (CDU).
Industry surveys show that German firms intend to add more jobs to payrolls this year following growth of 2.7 per cent in 2006, the economy's strongest performance in six years.
German software maker SAP said late last month it aimed to add a total of 3,500 new jobs in 2007, with around 10 per cent of these to come in the firm's domestic market.