German unemployment fell sharply in April as the headline figure fell below the politically sensitive five million mark for the first time since December, official data showed today.
The seasonally adjusted jobless total dropped 79,000 in April from March to 4.889 million, the data showed, with the adjusted rate dipping to 11.8 per cent from 12.0 per cent.
The performance was far better than the 18,000 rise expected by economists, but it was mainly due to a strong bounce back from depressed March job levels linked to cold weather.
That fall brings the headline figure below five million for the first time in four months and could give a boost to Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder before a key state election next month.
Economists warned against reading too much into the April figures because of the special factors. A prolonged winter hurt hiring through March, and mild weather in April produced a stronger-than-usual recovery.
Unemployment typically falls in the spring because warmer weather reinvigorates the construction, agriculture and tourism sectors. In addition, those unemployed people who no longer receive benefits under new labour market rules automatically fell out of the statistics in April.
Germany's jobless total hit a post-war record of 5.216 million in February. The figure was inflated by around 370,000 people being newly classified as unemployed, even though they were already jobless.
A survey of half a million Germans released by consultancy McKinsey yesterday found that almost two-thirds were concerned about their future financial security and 42 per cent feared losing their job, up from 35 per cent two years ago.