German unemployment rose by 17,000 in December, reaching its highest level since 1997.
The seasonally-adjusted unemployment total increased to 4.483 million, the 11th consecutive monthly gain.
"Growth is not yet strong enough to trigger a turnaround in the labour market," said Goldman Sachs economist Mr Dirk Schumacher, adding that new rules that came into effect at the beginning of this month had boosted the December figures.
The so-called "Hartz IV" rules oblige social welfare recipients to register as unemployed, thus increasing official jobless statistics. They are expected to lift the unadjusted jobless total close to the politically sensitive five million level in coming months as economic growth remains sluggish.
At 10 per cent in December, Germany's EU-standard jobless rate compares unfavourably with a rate of around 4.5 per cent in Britain and some 9.5 per cent in France.
The Labour Office said today the number of Germans in work had increased by 28,000 in October, the latest month for which figures are available, though this was mainly due to government measures to support the labour market.
The number of jobs that pay full social security contributions again declined, by an unadjusted 300,000 compared with the previous year, it added. German Economy Minister Wolfgang Clement believes the Hartz IV reforms will help to cut the jobless rate to between 3 and 5 percent by 2010 but he held out little hope of a significant recovery this year.