Unemployment could hit 5.5 pct by year-end says think-tank

Unemployment could rise to 5.5 percent by the end of the year, according to analysts at a government-affiliated economic think-tank.

The Central Statistical Office (GUS) said on Thursday that in July 2023 Poland's unemployment rate had stayed flat month on month at 5.0 percent.

Reacting to the news, analysts at the Polish Economic Institute (PIE) analysts said the unemployment rate "remained at a historically low level of 5.0 percent," and that they forecast "small fluctuations in the unemployment rate" but it will remain at 5.0 percent in the current quarter.

But they added that the rate will increase "to around 5.5 percent" at the end this year but "these are standard fluctuations related to the smaller number of seasonal jobs."

PIE economists also cited Eurostat data showing Poland's June unemployment rate at 2.7 percent, the second lowest result in the European Union after Malta, and against the EU average of 5.9 percent.

"In 2024, Poland's unemployment rate will remain at levels similar to this year," PIE economists added in the report.