Ministry estimates unemployment to stay flat at 5.5 pct in February
Poland's unemployment rate stood at 5.5 percent in February, unchanged from the previous month, according to an estimate by the Social Policy Ministry.
Compared to the same month last year, the unemployment rate was down by 0.4 percentage points.
According to the ministry, the number of registered unemployed decreased by 55,700 people to 866,100 at end-February.
The latest official estimate from the Central Statistical Office for January puts the unemployment rate at 5.5 percent.
Marlena Malag, the family and social policy minister, told PAP on Monday that last time February's unemployment was so low was in 2020, before the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.
"While in other countries businesses are still shutting down due to the outcomes of the pandemic, Poland is a leader with the lowest unemployment rate in the whole of the European Union," she said. "Only the Czech Republic has outpaced us."
According to Malag, this was facilitated by huge support for businesses offered by the government and the decision to open up the labour market to Ukrainian migrants, who helped to "fill the gaps caused by staff shortages, which allowed domestic companies to grow."
According to Eurostat, which uses different metrics, Poland's unemployment rate reached 2.8 percent in January 2023 and was one of the lowest in the EU, which as a whole showed a 6.1-percent jobless rate in January. The Czech Republic came first with a 2.5-percent unemployment figure. (PAP)
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