According to preliminary data, 846,500 unemployed persons were registered in labour offices at the end of February 2024. Compared to February last year, the number of unemployed fell by 18,300 (i.e. 2.1%). In February 2024 (according to preliminary data), employers reported 94,500 job vacancies and occupational activation places to labour offices, up by 0,5k (0.5%) more than in February 2023.

Each year, during the winter months, the unemployment rate tends to be higher than in the other months, due to the lower intensity of seasonal work. It is a cyclical and natural phenomenon.

In the number of registered unemployed at the end of February 2024, there were 13,700 unemployed Ukrainian citizens and they accounted for 1.6% of the total number of registered jobless. Compared to the situation at the end of February 2022 (beginning of the war in Ukraine), the number of unemployed Ukrainian citizens registered at labour offices increased by almost nine times, and by 0.6k compared to the previous month.

The registered unemployment rate at the end of February 2024 remained at the same level as in January this year (5.4%) and ranged from 3.3% in Wielkopolskie Voivodship to 9.0% in Podkarpackie Voivodship.

Most offers for production workers

The main known reasons for registering unemployed persons at the labour offices in February 2024 include termination of employment due to the expiry of the contract period, termination of the contract by mutual agreement and termination of the contract by the employer or employee. Those registering most frequently prior to registration were working in the following sections: wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles including motorbikes (14.9% of the inflow), manufacturing (13.8%), and construction (8.1%). The main group of registrants were persons without a profession (16.0% of the inflow), salespeople (8.2%), cooks (2.4%), followed by hairdressers, warehousemen, locksmiths, motor vehicle mechanics, construction assistants, domestic workers and economic technicians. The most frequent reasons for the de-registration of the unemployed from the labour offices' records in the month in question were taking up a job, starting to participate in activation activities (most often traineeships) and failing to appear in the labour office at the appointed time.

The largest number of jobs offers reported to labour offices in February 2024 were for production workers (5.8% of offers), domestic workers (5.3%), other simple workers not elsewhere classified (3.6%), other simple industrial workers, office workers, warehouse workers, manual packers, salespeople, orchard farm helpers, warehousemen, industrial helpers, cleaning workers, farm helpers, kitchen helpers, dismantlers-detectors and other office support workers.

Unemployment according to Eurostat

Poland is a country with one of the lowest unemployment rates in the EU. In January 2024, the seasonally adjusted harmonised unemployment rate, calculated according to the definition adopted by Eurostat, amounted to 2.9% in Poland, compared to 6.0% in the European Union and 6.4% in the EURO zone. Poland had the second lowest unemployment rate in the EU (after Malta, 2.6%).