The jobless rate among 15-24 year olds was also down slightly at 28.1 percent after hitting a 7-year high of 29.4 percent in January.

With seasonal variations taken into account, the number of people seeking work dropped to 2.088 million in February, down 2.0 percent compared to January, Istat said.

Compared to February 2010, the number of people seeking work had dropped by 1.0 percent.

For the whole of 2010, the rate lept to 8.4 percent compare to 7.8 percent in 2009, the highest level since Istat's records began in 2004.