The number of Germans out of work fell by 110,000 month-on-month in December in a far greater seasonally adjusted drop than expected, according to the Federal Labour Agency in Nuremberg.
The seasonally adjusted jobless total fell by 110,000 to 4.638 million. The jobless rate fell to 11.2 per cent from 11.4 per cent.
"The development of the last months gives us confidence for the year 2006 that has just begun," Labour Office chief Frank-Juergen Weise said in a statement.
The surprisingly large drop in the adjusted total was partly due to mild weather, allowing outdoor activity, such as construction work, to continue for longer.
The Office said the normal seasonal reduction in activity seemed to have shifted from November-December to January.
Germany was struck by snow and freezing temperatures in the last week of December, after the jobless data had been collected. Exceptionally mild weather had also pushed down the adjusted unemployment total by 53,000 in November.
On an unadjusted basis, the unemployment total rose by 75,000 to 4.606 million, with the jobless rate increasing to 11.1 per cent.
The number of vacancies, adjusted for seasonal factors, dropped by 2,000, the first decline in 14 months.
The average number of Germans out of work in 2005 as a whole was 4.863 million, 482,000 more than in 2004, for an average rate of 11.7 per cent.