Berlin, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- The number of unemployed Germans has fallen to the lowest level in 26 years, official data released Friday by the Federal Labor Office show.
According to the figures, 2.45 million individuals were currently registered as unemployed which marked a historical low last seen in 1991.
The labor market continued to enjoy a "very positive" development, Federal Labor Office director Detlef Scheele said in a statement.
Scheele noted that most new job creation came from parts of the economy which were relatively resilient to cyclical up- and downswings such as social- and health services, but also the more volatile trade, transport and logistics sectors.
There was an unusually high seasonal fall in the unemployment numbers after the summer holidays, with 96,000 more Germans in work in September than August.
The official unemployment rate fell to 5.5 percent in September. It was thus lower by 0.2 percentage points or 159,000 individuals compared with the same month last year.
The Federal Labor Office expects unemployment to fall again in 2018, albeit more slowly as growing numbers of refugees completed their German language courses and officially registered themselves as jobless.
Scheele further voiced optimism that the positive trend would endure. The situation was "remarkably good" looking forward. However, he called on the next German government to show more initiative in reintegrating people who involuntarily found themselves in long-term unemployment.
Despite the positive headline figures, Left party (Linke) politician Sabine Zimmerman accused the departing government of Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) of leaving behind a dysfunctional labor market with "millions of people who have to live in precarious conditions."
