April 5 (Bloomberg) -- Support for Germany's Social Democratic Party fell to its lowest level this year as the popularity of Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union rose, a poll by opinion researcher Forsa for Stern magazine and RTL television showed.

Support for the SPD fell one percentage point from last week to 27 percent, while backing for the CDU rose one point to 39 percent, Stern said in an e-mail today to news organizations. The Free Democratic Party fell one point to 10 percent and the Green Party gained one point to 10 percent, Stern said. Support for the Left Party was unchanged at 9 percent, Stern said.

Forsa conducted the poll of 2,500 people between March 27 and March 31. It had a margin of error of 2.5 percentage points.

To contact the reporter on this story: Rainer Buergin in Berlin at rbuergin1@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: April 5, 2006 03:07 EDT